Tag Archives: FSSAI

So much for fish and chips: India’s food safety types warn against newspaper-packed foods

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Warning: food wrapped in newspapers could be slow poison.

Using newspapers to wrap, pack or serve food is a safety hazard, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India declared this week.

fish-chips-newspaperNewspapers are often used by roadside vendors, small hotels and even in homes in lieu of absorbent papers. The food regulatory body has warned that cancer-causing agent and microbes could be slowly poisoning consumers of much food that has been in contact with newspapers.

Foods contaminated by newspaper ink could be dangerous because ink has multiple bioactive materials that are known to have negative health effects, the FSSAI said in its advisory on the subject. Printing inks may also contain harmful colours, pigments, binders, additives and preservatives. Newspapers could also harbor pathogenic microorganisms that could contaminate food. Newspapers, paper or cardboard boxes made of recycled paper may be contaminated with metallic contaminants, mineral oils and harmful chemicals like the phthalates which can cause digestive problems and also lead to severe toxicity.

 

Who knew? India bans silver leaf of animal origin in food items

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Sushmi Deyl of The Times of India reports the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has banned the use of any material of animal origin in silver leaf (chandi ka warq), commonly used in confectionaries and sweets like barfi for decoration and also in pan and packaged supari.

silver.leafAccording to sources in the ministry, the move comes in the wake of concerns over use of intestines of cows and buffaloes in making these thin strips of silver. “The silver leaf is prepared by placing small thin strips of silver between the intestines of cows and buffaloes and continuously hammering these bundles for up to eight hour a day till desired thickness of silver leaf is achieved,” an official said. He said the process was found to be offensive and unhygienic posing potential risk to consumers. Moreover, such silver sheets do not carry any green dot or maroon dot. Hence, consumers fail to differentiate between a vegetarian and non-vegetarian product.

There were also concerns that the silver leaf contained heavy metal traces such as nickel, lead, chromium and cadmium – which are harmful for health.

FSSAI adds restaurant hygiene to its menu

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The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has turned its attention to restaurants, eating joints and hotels to enforce hygiene standards.
A sub-group consisting of industry bodies like the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) and the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) and the FSSAI have been formed to amend rules that govern safety standards at eating establishments.

Food-Safety-and-Standards-Authority-of-India-FSSAIThe sub-group was formed following a meeting last week in New Delhi among the FSSAI, NRAI, FHRAI as well as popular fast-food companies like Yum! and hotel groups like Taj and ITC.

FSSAI Chief Executive Officer Pawan Kumar Agarwal, while confirming the development to Business Standard, said enforcing food safety standards at eating places was a must.

“Hotels, restaurants and eating joints need an FSSAI licence to operate but food safety standards are not necessarily met. We wanted to get a sense of what the industry’s view was on the subject and whether they were open to the idea of stringent enforcement,” Agarwal said.

Testing gods’ food: Moving from faith-based food safety in India

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The Food Safety and Standards Association of India (FSSAI) has said it intends to regulate public kitchens run by temple trusts in association with state regulators.

SiddhivinayakThe food regulator had approached the Siddhivinayak and Shirdi temple trusts in Maharashtra and found them open to the idea of scrutiny, said Pawan Agarwal, the chief executive officer of FSSAI.

“While temple trusts do get a licence from the FSSAI to run public kitchens, we are speaking of taking public health and safety to the next level by adhering to food safety standards. This calls for greater awareness and scrutiny, which we propose to do along with state food regulators.”

Sanjiv S Patil, executive officer of Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Temple Trust, said the regulator had surveyed the temple’s public kitchen two months ago and advised them on food safety standards. “We have joined hands with the FSSAI and the Association of Food Scientists & Technologists of India for standardisation and to maintain the quality of the prasadam we offer. We are committed to maintaining our quality standards.”

Nearly 100,000 devotees visit the Shree Siddhivinayak temple each day in Mumbai.

In Kerala, where the popular Sabarimala temple is located, food safety officers do checks at regular intervals to ensure the food served at the temple is safe.

bhogAn editorial in The Tribune says, only gods (note the plural, monotheism is sorta boring) know if they would like to taste FSSI-standardised bhog and prasad. The food regulator is hoping to ensure the “safety” of prasad distributed in temples and at other religious places. Its approach is secular, however.

According to the 2001 Census, India has 2.4 million places of worship, visited by approximately 300 million people every day. the FSSAI has already begun standardising prasad at famous temples like Shri Siddhivinayak temple (Mumbai), Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple (Tirupati) and Sai Baba temple (Shirdi), the fate of its crusade would rest with millions of bhakts. Will they like to have the food, supposedly partaken by the gods, after it is sullied in the name of sanitising and standardising by the FSSAI? 

Where faith is at work, even angels fear to tread! But the FSSAI assumes to straighten up complex socio-cultural issues. The organisation is in its infancy. Launched only in 2006, it has no judicial power to punish offenders.

Fear psychosis: If Hunter S. Thompson regulated food in India

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Food regulators in India are attempting to manage “fear psychosis” among companies after banning Maggi in June last year for allegedly containing excessive lead.

honestyMaggi is an international brand of seasonings, instant soups, and noodles that originated in Switzerland and was acquired by Nestlé in 1947.

The Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has relaxed the product approval process for proprietary food products and nutraceuticals. It had also last week issued clarification about the standards of monosodium glutamate (MSG).

After the ban on Maggi in June last year, the food industry had complained about ‘inspector raj’. Even Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal had said that the regulator has created an environment of fear in the industry.

When asked about whether there is any fear psychosis after the Maggi ban incident, FSSAI CEO Pawan Agarwal said that it has taken number of steps to ease approval process without compromising on the quality norms of the products in order to address any fear among the industry.

hunter.fear.loathing“… The fear psychosis has been curbed up to a large extent with various landmark initiatives taken by the FSSAI in easing the approval of food products and nutraceuticals,? Agarwal told PTI.

“But at the same time, utmost importance has also been given to ensuring quality of the food items,” Agarwal said.

Indian food regulator launches mobile app for consumers’ complaints

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Food safety regulator FSSAI has launched a mobile app through which consumers can raise their concerns related to quality of packaged food and the food served in ready-to-eat outlets.

FoodSafetyHelpline-features-minSince most of the times the form of food consumed is either packed or serviced, the app provides food safety tips and food safety laws as prescribed by the regulator through its regulations, says the description of the mobile app launched by FSSAI.

“FSSAI App will allow consumers to raise their food safety related concerns. Whether it is a Packaged Food or a Food Service Establishment, now consumers are empowered to know about the food business operators and get informed about the food safety information,” according to the description.

The app for Android smartphone users has built-in functionalities to locate the consumer’s geographical location and consumers can raise any food incidents witnessed along with the captured pictures. The app also empowers consumers to check many parameters on which the food safety is compromised for both packaged foods and food served in ready-to-eat establishments.

For served food, the consumer is given an option to rate the Overall Hygiene of the food service establishment. It also has provision for consumers to enter FSSAI issued license/registration number if available will provide accurate information about the food business operator’s adherence to food safety requirements.