Dec 5, 2015

Sale of colour powder banned in food stalls

Thiruvananthapuram: The food safety commission has banned the sale of colour powders, used by Ayyappa devotees for 'petta thullal,' at shops selling food products. This has been done to avoid food poisoning.
"There are chances of the powder getting mixed with food items. The ban is as per Section 30 (2) of Food Safety and Standards Act," said food safety commissioner T V Anupama in a statement issued after a meeting convened to review the steps taken at Sabarimala.
The department has also banned sale of cut pineapples for three months in Erumeli.
"Most vendors lacked the mandatory health cards and food safety registrations," she said.
The department has also urged the Erumeli gramapanchayat to suspend the licence of hotels which are found discharging waste water into the Veliyathodu, a major water body in Erumeli.

Worms allegedly found in Ramdev’s noodles

Jind, Dec 4 (UNI) Yog Guru Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Atta noodles have again found itself in the soup, when a resident of Narwana, Haryana today alleged that some worms were found in the Ramdev backed noodles.
Coming close on the heels of Food Safety and Regulatory Authority of India (FSSAI) controversy, when its Chairman Ashish Bahuguna had said, "They have got no permission from authorities to sell noodles".
Vinod Kumar said he had bought Ramdev Maggi from Savdeshi Kendra last evening, and alleged that when he cooked it today he found some worms in it.

Resurrection

Maggi noodles returns to shop shelves. But getting its mojo back could be a long haul.

Lijiye, mooh Maggi kijiye." With these words, a variation of the traditional Indian exhortation to partake of sweets on auspicious occasions, Suresh Narayanan, Managing Director, Nestle India, welcomed guests at the re-launch of Maggi noodles on Dhanteras day, November 9. Commercial sale began three days later, on November 12, with Maggi noodles hitting a limited number of outlets in 100 cities and towns across the country. The same day, in a tie-up with Nestle India, e-commerce giant Snapdeal held a flash sale of the product that settled any doubts about whether its enforced absence from shop shelves for over five months had impacted its popularity. Within five minutes, 60,000 Maggi noodles 'kits' - each kit containing 12 packets - were sold out. Snapdeal held a second flash sale on November 16 - which was just as successful.
Nestle's troubles, however, are not yet entirely over. Maggi noodles disappeared from the market following a nationwide ban on it imposed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on June 5. The ban came after a number of laboratories to which Maggi noodles samples were sent for testing found unduly high levels of lead in them - in one case 17.2 parts per million (ppm) against the permissible level of 2.5 ppm - as well as the presence of monosodium glutamate, even though the packaging claimed there was none. Nestle challenged the ban in the Bombay High Court, which, on August 5, ruled decisively in its favour, maintaining that the FSSAI had been unable to substantiate its charges against the product and that its order was "arbitrary, unjust and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution". It permitted Nestle to restart selling once old as well as fresh Maggi noodles samples had been tested by laboratories certified by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL).
Nestle accordingly submitted such samples of all the nine variants of Maggi noodles and all of them passed the safety tests. But the FSSAI has now approached the Supreme Court challenging the High Court order on several counts, but primarily maintaining that Maggi noodles samples chosen at random by an independent body should have been tested in laboratories, and not those provided by Nestle. "It was like asking a person under suspicion for a crime to provide evidence against himself," says an FSSAI official. But, with Supreme Court hearings yet to start, Nestle has not deviated from its roll-out plans.
The instant noodles market in India amounted to Rs 5,300 crore in 2014, according to Euromonitor, with Maggi, the market leader, having 63 per cent market share. Its temporary disappearance was thus bound to have major repercussions. Nestle India, to whose revenue Maggi contributed around 26 per cent, certainly suffered, recording a net loss of 3.29 per cent or Rs 64.4 crore in its April to June quarter (its first ever loss in 15 years) and a shrunken profit of Rs 124.2 crore in the July to September quarter, down by over 60 per cent from the same quarter a year ago when it was Rs 311.29 crore. It had to destroy around 300,000 tonnes of noodles following the ban, taking a hit of around Rs 320 crore.


But the entire instant food and beverages industry also suffered, since it was quality concerns that sparked the ban. According to a recent report by IMRB Kantar Worldpanel, the overall food and beverages segment in India grew only four per cent in the July to September quarter, compared to nine per cent in the same quarter a year ago, while ready-to-eat foods fell by nine per cent in the same quarter, against a five per cent growth a year ago. "The Maggi controversy has had collateral negative impact across the entire fast moving foods industry," says N. Chandramouli, CEO of brands research company Trust Research Advisory (TRA).
Not surprisingly, a number of rivals have sought to fill the vacuum created by Maggi's disappearance with extensive advertising campaigns to push their own products. Following the Maggi controversy, the FSSAI directed other noodles makers as well to get samples tested all over again. ITC, which makes the second biggest instant noodles brand Sunfeast Yippee!, got 800 samples examined at NABL and FSSAI approved laboratories in India, as well as at international ones in Italy, Singapore and Japan, and having received a clean chit, marketed the results widely. "The noodles category had been impacted, and we felt it imperative to clear the air of confusion and reinstate consumer trust," says V.L. Rajesh, who heads the foods business at ITC. "We thus embarked on communicating in an open and transparent manner with a reassurance campaign."
Indo-Nissin Foods' Top Ramen brand initially went the Maggi way and withdrew from the market, after a couple of its samples were also found to possess high levels of lead, and approval was held back by the FSSAI. But it was re-launched in September, accompanied by full-page print ads proclaiming: "Two things are synonymous with us - noodles and trust." Hindustan Unilever, which produces the Knorr brand of noodles, has tied up with online retailers to improve sales. Most curious, however, is the case of Patanjali noodles, a new product launched by the Baba Ramdev backed Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. While the manufacturer claims these atta noodles are much healthier than the maida ones made by rivals and flaunts an FSSAI clearance licence number on its packaging, the FSSAI has maintained that the product was never submitted for testing and, hence, its sale is illegal. Ashish Bahuguna, Chairperson, FSSAI, has directed his officers to take appropriate action.

As we re-launch, I would like to reiterate that the reason consumers choose Nestle is quality.
Suresh Narayanan
MD, Nestle India Meanwhile, Nestle India has taken a number of steps towards damage control. Even before the favourable High Court verdict, it replaced its then MD in India, Etienne Bennet, with Suresh Narayanan, the first Indian to hold the position in 16 years. Nestle spokespersons insist that Narayanan's choice has nothing to do with his nationality - and indeed he has an impressive record of growing Nestle's business in Singapore, despite the 2008 global financial crisis, and thereafter in Egypt, despite the political upheaval there - but that can hardly be taken at face value. With his extensive Indian experience - Narayanan joined Nestle in India and was moved overseas for the first time only in 2003 - he was able to reach out much more easily to stakeholders and reassure them. "The love for our traditional Maggi Masala Noodles has been immense," he told Business Today. "I respect that and am determined to deliver on that."
To keep a tighter check on quality in future, Nestle also seems to have decided to manufacture all its Maggi noodles in house. In end-September, it terminated a 12-year-old contract with its sole third party producer, Kolkata-based SAJ Food Products. Production of Maggi noodles has begun at three of its five facilities - Nanjangud (Karnataka), Moga (Punjab) and Bicholim (Goa). Simultaneously, a high-powered advertising campaign to announce the return of Maggi noodles is being turned on. Even while the product was off the shelves, Nestle kept Maggi alive in customers' memories with a number of ads bearing twee taglines: 'We miss you too' and 'Kab wapas aaogey' (When will you return). The thrust in the new ads will be: "Your Maggi is safe, has always been". While Publicis India, which handled the Maggi account for Nestle, will continue to do so, McCann Erickson India, headed by the high profile Prasoon Joshi, has also been roped in.
Apart from the Supreme Court worry, Nestle has also to deal with the fact that, apart from the FSSAI, seven state governments - Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura - had separately banned Maggi noodles, and these bans are still in force. It is due to this that two Maggi production units, at Pantnagar in Uttarakhand and Tahliwal in Himachal Pradesh, have yet to restart functioning. The company also faces a class action suit for Rs 640 crore filed against it by the Ministry for Consumer Affairs in the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, charging it with unfair trade practices, false labelling and putting out misleading ads.
The response to Maggi noodles' return is no doubt heartening for Nestle. Yet, the TRA's 2015 report on India's Most Attractive Brands, based on research across 16 cities between June and August - when Maggi noodles had disappeared from shop shelves - shows Maggi's overall attractiveness ranking having fallen from 44th in 2013 to100th in 2015, a 56-rank drop. In the fast moving foods category, Maggi was in first place in 2013, but is now second, yielding to MTR Foods. "My feeling is that Maggi may not be able to stem this fall simply with some clever advertising," says Chandramouli.
Abheek Singhi, Partner at Boston Consulting Group, feels the packaged fast foods industry was in any case slowing down in keeping with falling consumer demand all over. "Players are trying to create excitement through innovations and usage occasions, and specifically in the food category, trying to provide reassurance about safety - not only functionally, but also at an emotional level," he says. But will it work? "Anyone who thinks Maggi will emerge without much damage is living in a fool's paradise," says Chandramouli.

Suresh Narayanan, MD, Nestle India.
"OUR PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN, AND WILL ALWAYS BE, SAFE FOR CONSUMERS"
On August 1, at the height of the Maggi crisis, Suresh Narayanan, head of Nestle's Philippines operations, was shifted to India to take charge. Edited excerpts from an interview:
Q. What are your re-launch plans for Maggi noodles?
A. Rebuilding consumer trust and reassuring them of the quality and safety of our products will be the focus. The impact of the Maggi noodles issue is not restricted to Nestle only. It has had a much larger impact bringing the entire supply-chain mechanism to a standstill. I need to look at that.
For Nestle, quality is trust. Our products have been and will always be safe for consumers. As we re-launch, I would like to reiterate that the reason consumers choose Nestle is quality. I would also like to emphasise Nestle's bonds of consumer relationship and friendship extending to millions of Indian consumers over 100 years. I am completely committed to the idea and the dream of 'Make in India'.
Q. What are your marketing and advertising plans to revive the sale of Maggi?A. Nurturing a relationship over long years requires you to stay true to values through thick and thin, and never take things for granted. I am proud that Nestle has lived up to the world's best quality standards and will continue to make sure that only the best of our products reach our consumers every day. This is the message that I wish to drive through our marketing and advertising campaigns.
Q. Are you looking at innovative options for Maggi and your other brands?
A. The mandate currently is to bring back Maggi noodles to all our consumers. While I will be looking into innovative options, it is a fact that the love for our traditional Maggi Masala Noodles has been immense, and I respect that affinity which our consumers have. I am determined to deliver on that.
(The author is a freelance journalist based in Mumbai)

Aaganwari Center supplied substandard food

Govt imposes fine of Rs 1.5 lakh on Chatisgarh-based Company
Srinagar:
A Chattisgarh based company has been fined for supplying substandard food items to Aanganwari centers in J&K, officials told Rising Kashmir on Friday.
According to Assistant Commissioner, Food Safety Srinagar, Hilal Ahmad a fine of 1.5 lakh has been imposed on M/S Divine Corpse Private Limited for supplying sub-standard nutritional items to various Aanganwari centers of District Srinagar.
The court of Additional Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar Nazir Ahmad Baba, who is also the Adjudicating Officer has imposed a fine of Rs 3.20 lakh on various food business operators including Rs 1.50 lakh the Chhattisgarh based Company for the malpractice.
“The seized goods from the company include sugar, salt and Moongi. The huge quantity of substandard food material will be destroyed scientifically in presence of a constituted committee,” Ahmad said.
He said the department has started a drive against adulteration particularly in milk. “The suppliers and milkmen have been warned to desist from malpractices, otherwise strict action under Food Safety & Standards Act shall be initiated against them,” Assistant Commissioner said.

Company fined for supplying sub-standard food items

Restaurants, milk suppliers under scanner
The Food and Drug Control Organisation has slapped fine on a food company for supplying sub-standard edibles to Anganwari centres.
Assistant Commissioner Food Safety, Hilal Ahmed Mir has imposed a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh on a Chhattisgarh-based company having its branch office in Srinagar for supplying sub-standard and inferior nutritional items to Anganwari centres.
The company had allegedly supplied inferior sugar, moong, salt and other food items which were destroyed scientifically in presence of a committee, a spokesman of the organisation said in a handout.
The Assistant Commissioner, he said, also fined many restaurants across the city for violating Food Safety and Standards Act. “Any establishment found violating any provision of the Food Safety Act will be dealt with strictly,” the spokesman quoted Mir as having said, adding, “Milk suppliers too are under scanner.

After liquor, cakes, biscuits and chocolates under FDA scanner

Pune: After liquor, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials have now decided to get products like cakes, biscuits and chocolates tested for quality according to the guidelines of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) ahead of Christmas and New Year celebrations in the city.
FDA, which is the supreme food safety regulatory body, would initiate quality checks across bakeries in Pune district for three days starting from December 21.
“We would visit bakeries and shops where cakes and biscuits are made and will check for the quality of raw materials used. We would also get samples tested to ascertain that there is no adulteration,” said a senior official from FDA.
FDA officials said that apart from checking the quality of raw materials, the conditions in which cakes and biscuits are made and the hygiene of people involved in making these items will also be checked thoroughly.
“During Christmas, a variety of cakes and biscuits are seen in the market. We would be checking those already made and ready to be sold along with raw materials in almost all bakeries on December 21, 22 and 23. This has been conveyed to all officials who would carry out area wise checks,” added the officials.
The officials said that apart from bakeries, they would also visit various restaurants and hotels in the city before the New Year to ensure the quality of food products sold and the hygiene maintained by the hotels.
“For celebrating the New Year on December 31, many Puneites are seen visiting restaurants and hotels. To ensure that no adulteration takes place in hotels and quality is not compromised, we would be conducting tests of food products in hotels as well,” said the officials.

Poor hygiene, lack of tabs on street food to blame for infections: Docs

Every Monday and Tuesday, Dr Prasad SM has children walking into his clinic with symptoms of diarrhoea. Most often, it's the roadside pani puri and masala puri that are the culprits. The kids gorge on street food during the weekend, catching infections. "Absence of regulations and checks on quality of water being used in roadside eateries is a major shortcoming in the public health monitoring system. Have you seen any BBMP health inspector checking hygiene standards," asked Dr Prasad, who heads the paediatric department at the Dr BR Ambedkar Medical College Hospital.
The first report of the World Health Organization on food-borne diseases released on Thursday reveals the impact of contaminated food on health. In terms of numbers, WHO's southeast Asia region is one of the worst affected -it sees a whopping 150 million cases and 1,75,000 deaths a year. It is second only to the African region when it comes to the incidence of foodborne diseases, says the report.
Dr Lawrence Peter, HoD and consultant gastroenterologist, Manipal Hospitals, said a majority of foodborne infection cases are due to poor water supply. "Our government is not interested in providing safe water, which should be a priority . If I see 60 patients a day in the outpatient unit, an average of 10 are suffering from food and water-borne infections," he said.
The doctor pointed out that the fault lies in handling food. "Cooking food in a hygienic manner is not enough. How you serve matters a lot and that's where the hygiene is missing. Wearing plastic gloves is not enough," Dr Peter added.
BBMP has only 68 health inspectors, who have to monitor the entire city, said Dr Upednra Bhojani, researcher with Public Health Institute, an NGO. "Food safety remains as a concern. There are stringent rules and guidelines not being implemented effectively. Lack of manpower could be one of the reasons," he added.

DINAMALAR NEWS



10 ஆயிà®°à®®் கிலோ கலப்பட டீ தூள் பறிà®®ுதல்


நாக மலை, டிச.5:மதுà®°ை à®…à®°ுகே பத் தா யி à®°à®®் கிலோ கலப் பட டீ தூளை அதி கா à®°ி கள் பறி à®®ு தல் செய்து கம் பெ னிக்கு சீல் வைத் த னர்.
மது à®°ை யைச் சேà®°்ந் த வர் ஜெக தீ சன். இவர் நாக à®® லைப் பு துக் கோட்டை à®…à®°ு கே யுள்ள சம் பக் குடி கிà®°ா மத் தில் கடந்த ஓராண் டாக டீ தூள் கம் பெனி நடத்தி வரு கி à®±ாà®°். வெளி யூà®°் க ளில் இருந்து டீ தூளை வாà®™்கி அதை தரம் பிà®°ித்து பல பெயர் க ளில் பாக் கெட் போட்டு விà®±் பனை செய்து வரு கி à®±ாà®°். டீ தூள் பாக் கெட் க ளில் மதுà®°ை, கோய à®®ுத் தூà®°் என ஊர் பெயர் சேà®°்த்து விà®±் பனை செய் வ தாக உணவு கலப் ப டப் பிà®°ி வுக்கு தக வல் கிடைத் தது. நேà®±்à®±ு பிà®±் ப கல் 3 மணி ய ள வில் à®®ாவட்ட உண வுப் பாது காப்பு மற் à®±ுà®®் மருந் தி யல் அலு வ லர் சுகு à®®ாà®°ி, à®®ாவட்ட வழங் கல் அலு வ லர் ஜீவா, உண வுப் பாது காப்பு அதி கா à®°ி கள் வேல் à®®ு à®°ு கன், சண் à®®ு கம், கணேà®·் உள் ளிட் டோà®°் ஆய்வு செய் த னர்.
à®…à®™் கி à®°ுந்த 10 ஆயி à®°à®®் கிலோ டீ தூளில் கலப் ப டம் செய் யப் பட் டது தெà®°ிய வந் தது. இதை ய டுத்து டீ தூள் மற் à®±ுà®®் கலப் ப டம் செய் யப் பயன் ப டுத் திய கலர் பொடி களை பறி à®®ு தல் செய்து கம் பெ னிக்கு அதி கா à®°ி கள் சீல் வைத் த னர்.
இது குà®±ித்து அதி கா à®°ி கள் கூà®±ு கை யில், “பறி à®®ு தல் செய் யப் பட்ட கலப் பட டீ தூளை சோத னைக்கு அனுப்பி உள் ளோà®®். அதன் à®®ுடிவு கிடைத் த வு டன் சம் பந் தப் பட்ட நபர் à®®ீது உரிய நட வ டிக்கை எடுக் கப் ப டுà®®்” என் à®± னர்.

Chipotle E. coli case in Illinois as company raises food safety standards


Chipotle may not be able to use as much local food as it tightens food safety standards
The number of E. coli-related illnesses linked to Chipotle Mexican Grill grew to 52 on Friday, including one in Illinois, as the company said it will raise its food safety standards.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that as of Wednesday, illnesses had been reported by seven more people, including one in Illinois and others in Maryland and Pennsylvania. That brings the number of cases to 52 in nine states. Twenty people have been hospitalized but no deaths have been reported, the agency said.
Divya Mohan Little, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health, said the office was notified of an E. coli case involving someone who ate at Chipotle, and the department was working to determine whether E. coli was contracted at the restaurant.
"For now, (the department) is treating this case as an isolated incident and is not releasing information about the location of the individual," Mohan Little said in an email.
The Denver-based restaurant chain with more than 1,900 locations said Friday that it has brought on Seattle-based IEH Laboratories to help it find ways to improve food safety practices throughout its operations, from farms to restaurants. It still doesn't know what ingredient may be linked to the outbreak.
Specifically, Chipotle says it will:
•Implement DNA testing on all its ingredients before they are shipped to restaurants.
•Test ingredients that are near the end of their shelf life to ensure the quality is maintained while they are being stored.

•Improve training to ensure all employees are fully versed on the company's food handling and safety procedures.
But in striving for higher food safety standards, Chipotle said it may not be able to use as much locally sourced produce.
"We believe that there will be some local suppliers who are not able (or willing) to meet these new standards," Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold said Thursday, before the safety initiative was announced.
Last month, the company removed language on its website about buying locally and replaced it with a note about supplier relationships. Arnold said that was in part due to the fact that the local program had gone out of season (it runs from June to October for most of the U.S.) and because of the upcoming changes to its food safety procedures. Arnold said the company is preparing for some local produce suppliers not to return next spring.
The planned tightening of food safety standards and possible changes in local sourcing were first reported by Bloomberg News.

Chipotle temporarily closed 43 locations in Washington and Oregon at the end of October after health officials discovered most of the people sickened in an E. coli outbreak had eaten at local restaurants. They were reopened in early November.
Washington and Oregon have the biggest concentration of confirmed cases of E. coli, but illnesses were also previously reported in California, New York, Ohio and Minnesota.
Late last month, the company said it is deep-cleaning restaurants linked to the outbreak, has thrown out food and surveyed employees for possible illness. No Chipotle employees have been ill, it said.