Nov 16, 2015

Urgent curbs needed on food adulteration

HYDERABAD: First it was the fruits and now it is the vegetables and spices that are being under 'attack'. With the law-enforcing agencies unable to curb the massive adulteration of the food chain across the city, more and more Hyderabadis are likely to fall prey to serious diseases, including slow death in the near future.
Last week, the police busted a massive racket of using adulterants such as black oxide, varnish, paint and glue to make low-quality spices worthy of selling to unsuspecting buyers in the Old City.
Astonishingly, 20 men along with their leaders had been mixing various adulterants in spices in rented godowns right under the cops' nose.
From mixing low-quality semolina in poppy seeds, to adding paint and glue to increase weight, the miscreants were putting labels of local companies on sacks of poisonous spices and shipping it to various corners of the city.
While the cops have claimed a major breakthrough, big worries remain about the identity of the people behind the racket, who in collusion with the merchants could be carrying out similar activities elsewhere.
All the cops have managed to do is identify a broker who liaised between the adulterators and the merchants. Experts say the Old City crackdown assumes great significance in context of the magnitude of the massive adulterated food market in Hyderabad, especially due to its serious health implications.
It also comes two months after the Hyderabad High Court sought strong action against fruit traders for using carcinogen calcium carbide to ripen fruits. While the court described the traders as `worse than terrorists', authorities sealed some fruit markets and seized cartons of fruits, ripened with calcium carbide.
But, clearly the effort hasn't been effective enough, as the markets are again found flooded with such fruits and the cops, after initial hullabaloo have gone back to their ignoring ways.
So every fruit one picks up in the market could be injected with chemicals.
Not just the aam aadmi in Hyderabad, even people staying at big resorts and five-star hotels, are falling prey, with absolutely no way to conclusively confirm that the water melons have not been injected with erythrosine to give a darker red look or whether the grapes have not been sprayed with pesticide and ripened by highly concentrated chemicals.
Some of the bigger hotels, however, are careful and source their fruits from organic farms, but not all follow the same rules.
More worrisome has been the government's poor reaction to curb adulteration of vegetables, the staple food for millions of people.
With most of the green vegetables laced with copper sulphate and chemical dye, food safety officials admit they have been helpless about it despite being aware about the high levels of chemicals used in vegetables.
Coloured dyes are being issued to make insect affected cauliflowers and cabbages look greener. In view of the HC rapping the government in its knuckles, authorities' promise to crackdown on vegetable markets turned out to be a hollow one.
Experts have called for more research to prove the huge impact of chemicals on the human body. Some research done in the past has shown how adulterants in mustard seeds and edible oil cause glaucoma and cardiac arrest and the same in tea is likely to cause cancer.Similarly, mercury-contaminated fish and seeds grains can cause brain damage and slow death.

Anti-dengue operations at sago units conducted

With the onset of monsoon, officials from Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department have taken up anti-dengue operations in sago units across the district.
A team led by District Designated Officer T. Tamil Selvan along with food inspectors and supervisors during their raids in sago units found many obsolete tyres dumped on the premises.
Officials immediately asked the workers to drain the water from the tyres as they were found to be breeding place for mosquitoes.
The unit owners were also asked to clean the water storage containers regularly and also remove all unwanted materials on the premises. Broken plastic materials dumped in many sago units were also removed during the inspection.
Officials also distributed pamphlets containing awareness messages on preventing dengue. Unit owners were also asked to whitewash the tanks periodically and take all precautionary measures for the monsoon.

FSSAI moves SC against lifting of ban on Maggi noodles

Just as instant noodles Maggi is readying for a comeback and hit retail stalls this month, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Monday moved the Supreme Court against Bombay High Court''s order lifting the ban on the popular instant noodles brand.
The High Court had sought to wipe the smear off the Swiss giant Nestle by revoking the ban on the noodles in August this year. Food authorities had earlier deemed Maggi products unsafe for consumption and Maharashtra government had accused the company of not complying with the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
The High Court held the FSSAI orders to be "arbitrary, unjust and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution". But keeping in mind public interest and health, it had ordered the re-testing of Maggi samples within six weeks in three accredited labs.
Subsequently, earlier this month, Nestle had informed that tests done on fresh Maggi samples provided to government approved labs were found safe and retail sales would start shortly.
But FSSAI challenged the High Court order as erroneous and questioned in the Supreme Court the “sanctity” of the samples provided to the government-approved labs for the re-test, sources with the top food regulator said.
They said the FSSAI petition has contended that the High Court erred by asking the company itself to provide the fresh samples instead of asking a neutral authority to do so. They said it was like asking a person under suspicion to give evidence against himself. Further, they said that the element of surprise was also lost.
The High Court had lifted the ban on a petition filed by Nestle India for quashing an order of FSSAI declaring the food product to be unsafe for consumption. The ban had forced Nestle to destroy over 25,000 tonnes of Maggi.

Maggi Return Challenged By Food Safety Regulator in Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India or FSSAI has moved the Supreme Court against Nestle's instant noodles Maggi, challenging a Bombay High Court order that had lifted a ban on the popular snack. Maggi had been banned in June after reports that some packets contained unsafe levels of lead.
In its petition, regulator FSSAI said the High Court should have appointed a neutral authority to select the Maggi samples for test but the court allowed Nestle to pick up samples on its own.
The move violated "principles of natural justice", FSSAI said, adding that Maggi should be banned until a neutral agency picks up the samples and performs tests.
Nestle, which had always maintained the product was safe to eat and continued to sell it in other countries, had resumed selling its Maggi noodles again in India after getting the green light to do so from government laboratories, the company said on Monday.
The Indian unit of the Swiss food giant Nestle SA has been grappling with its worst public relations crisis after local regulators reported in May that some packets of the Maggi noodles contained unsafe levels of lead.
"Following tests by government accredited labs in India showing Maggi noodles are safe to eat, Nestle India has announced that it has started selling the product again," the company said in a statement.
The regulator's findings in May led to a nationwide ban on its Maggi instant noodles and the company had to order a recall of the product a month later, which cost it more than Rs. 440 crores.
In August the Bombay High Court overturned the ruling, calling it "arbitrary" and ordered fresh tests.
Last month Nestle said the laboratory tests had found that Maggi noodles were safe to eat. The company later announced it had restarted production at three plants in India and last week said those had also passed laboratory tests.

Experts unsure of grounds for Maharashtra move to challenge Maggi in Supreme Court

Legal experts are pondering the basis for the MaharashtraFood and Drug Administration (FDA)'s decision to move the Supreme Court against the Bombay High Court order quashing the ban on Nestle's Maggi noodles.
The popular snack re-entered the market on November 9, on the back of the Bombay High Court order dated August 13 and after clearing new safety tests.
According to Zakir Merchant, partner, Khaitan & Co, although the case had been disposed of by the division Bench of the Bombay High Court, the scope for legal arguments is not over. While Maggi noodles cleared the safety tests, the samples used for the tests were drawn from Nestle India and not from the authorities. This is a point of disagreement between the state regulator and the company.
In its order, the Bombay High Court judges had observed, "We are constrained to give directions for testing of food samples which have been preserved by the Petitioner (Nestle India)." Legal experts point out that the question over the credibility of samples taken from the company, whose own quality standards were in question at that point in time, could become crucial in the apex court.
"Perhaps the government is aggrieved by the fact that the samples that were tested were procured from Nestle and not the ones which were in their possession... The tests are clear but an argument may be made by the government that the results could have varied if their samples were called upon and therefore, a re-testing should be the way forward. Secondly, it could be that there is a divergence in the interpretation of a particular regulation on the standards laid down for testing and applying the prescribed benchmarks. This may be made out to be a ground for challenging the test results," Merchant explained.
While there is no safety limit that has been laid down by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for monosodium glutamate (MSG). It can be found in packaged foods as it originates from natural sources used in products. This was accepted by the FSSAI. However, mis-labelling on Maggi noodle packs could be brought up in the apex court. This is despite Nestle agreeing in the Bombay High Court that the 'no added MSG' tag would be removed from the packs. The company has corrected the issue on new packs released in market.
"Although not a sound argument pressed into service earlier, on technical grounds, mis-labelling may be raised again before the Supreme Court in spite of the fact that MSG is found naturally in several food sources," said Merchant.
It was the Uttar Pradesh food regulatory authority that first brought up the issue in public regarding presence of MSG and lead in Maggi noodles.
However, Ashish Prasad, partner, Economic Laws Practice, has a different take on the matter. "The issue, in my view, is over, with Maggi back on the shelves. The FDA is free to conduct tests and act (accordingly). It does not need to seek any further ratification of its powers and duties under the (Food Safety & Standards) Act, 2006 from any court of law - if that's what it is seeking."
NOT OUT OF THE WOODS YET
  • Maggi re-entered the market on November 9, on the back of the Bombay High Court order dated August 13 and after clearing safety tests
  • While Maggi noodles cleared the safety tests, the samples used were drawn from Nestle India and not from the authorities
  • Legal experts say that the question of credibility of samples taken from the company could become crucial in the apex court