Deeply weird files: KFC India adds phone charger to chicken boxes

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Douglas Powell

I’ve complimented McDonald’s on being the only place for years one could get free wi-fi in Australia (still building the NBN I guess). We’ve gone to other local fast food joints when the power’s out, I’ve scammed free wi-fi from the random streets of France almost a decade ago (the VW dealer outside our friends’ apartment was uncharacteristically reliable) .

Times have changed.

Kentucky Fried Chicken in India is so attuned to their customers’ needs they have crafted a meal box that comes with a pre-charged USB plug.

If you are planning to go to a local KFC there and order a box of chicken, you potentially don’t need to charge your phone ahead of time because you just might be handed a chicken box that will come with everything you need to stay connected during your meal.

The “Watt-A-Box” program, which the U.S.-based chain’s India branch launched in Delhi and Mumbai, is advertising its benefits with a ridiculous commercial that addresses the date planning interrupted by a dead phone situation described above.

While the limited edition boxes aren’t part of the regular menu, some were given away as part of an online competition, and some KFC fans received them as a bonus surprise from selected stores in Delhi and Mumbai.

Food safety raid on flour, curry powder units

Posted on June 23, 2016 by Douglas Powell

I never knew what masala was until Sorenne really liked the Indian chicken takeaway.

So I’ve been trying to recreate the dish at home.

Guess it can suck at food safety too.

Food safety officials inspected 21 large-scale manufacturing units making curry, masala powders and flour on Wednesday. Six of the units were issued improvement notices while a fine of Rs.75,000 was imposed on five others.

Officials collected 20 statutory samples of curry powders and 36 surveillance samples for quality checks.

Food safety officials closed down a Nirapara roller flour mill at Attingal where raw materials like wheat were found to be stored in unhygienic and unclean conditions.

In Palakkad district, food safety officials seized and sealed stocks of cumin, coriander and turmeric from the Aanakkara Food Processing and Export Pvt. Ltd., as these were found to be sub-standard.

They shoot horses, don’t they? 180 food handlers at Malaysian bazaar yet to take anti-Typhoid jabs

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Douglas Powell

The Terengganu Health Department found 180 food handlers in the Kuala Berang Ramadan bazaar who have not taken the compulsory anti-typhoid injections and did not go for food handling courses.

Its director, Dr Mohammad Omar said checks on 130 premises on Saturday also found that 30 premises were maintained only moderately in terms of hygiene.

“Food handlers who do not take these jabs and who do not attend the course to handle food correctly will also not know how to maintain cleanliness or how to handle the raw food,” he told reporters after the launch of the Kemaman District level Food Hygiene and Safety Campaign.

Mohammad said inspections by the Food Safety and Quality Unit of the Hulu Terengganu District Health Centre also found that in terms of hygiene, 30 premises scored 50% to 75%, which is moderate, while 100 premises were in a good condition scoring 75% and above.

“We also took a sample of 16 high risk food, including ‘kuih’ that contained santan and chicken, to be analysed in the laboratory.

“So far we have not found any spoiled food as alleged by people on the social media but we will continue with follow-up inspections,” he said.

FSSAI adds restaurant hygiene to its menu

Posted on May 15, 2016 by Douglas Powell

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.

The 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.

Food fraud in India: ‘soul deep’ concern required

Posted on May 15, 2016 by Douglas Powell

The authorities are required to show ‘soul deep’ concern to ameliorate the sufferings of people caused by food adulteration in the state, the J&K high court said on Saturday, even as the government submitted that it will soon set up technologically advanced laboratories in Srinagar and Jammu.

The authorities tasked with implementing the Food Safety and Standard Act of 2006 have “exhibited only skin-deep concern” towards the sufferings of the people and they need to show “soul-deep concern”, a bench of justices Muzaffar Hussain Attar and Ali Mohammad Magrey said while hearing suo-moto Public Interest Litigation.

“This is not the question of a small water body and encroachments on it which we can demolish. It concerns the health of all of us, rich and poor, ruler and the ruled. Everybody’s health is involved in this issue but there is sad state of affairs,” the bench said.

Last month, the court said the people of the state have been ‘left at the mercy of God’ as there are no laboratories and other paraphernalia available to check food adulteration in the state.

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

Posted on May 9, 2016 by Douglas Powell

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.

The 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.

An 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.

400 attendees at Indian model UN sickened: Box8 slapped with FDA notice over filthy kitchen

Posted on April 27, 2016 by Douglas Powell

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent a notice to Box8 in connection with the stale food provided by them at the Indian International Model United Nations (IIMUN) event.

Box8 is currently in a soup after 300-400 attendees at the event fell ill after consuming the meal provided by them in mid-April.

The decision to issue a notice was taken after FDA inspectors raided the company’s Thane-based kitchen. The company has been given a period of 15 days to rectify the flaws in the kitchen pointed out to them by the agency.

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

Posted on April 3, 2016 by Douglas Powell

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

Maggi 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.

“… 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.

View from India: Increasing the cost of violation only way to tackle food adulteration

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Douglas Powell

The Economic Times writes that nearly 70% of the milk in India is adulterated. This, simply, is not acceptable. The government has said that a new scanner has been developed for quick detection of adulteration, and is now working towards developing a portable test kit based on this technology.

While this development will help improve detection, addressing the problem of adulteration of this essential food item will require changes in the regulatory and legal framework and the manner in which the food safety administration discharges its duties.

The only way to tackle adulteration of essential food items like milk is to increase the cost of violation. Failure to do so will mean continuing to expose the millions of Indians, particularly children, to a public health time bomb.

40 Indian nursing college female students hospitalized due to food poisoning

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Douglas Powell

As many as 40 female students pursuing BSc Nursing at MGM College in Kamothe have been hospitalised after falling ill allegedly due to ‘food poisoning’ after having dinner at the college mess.

API Mukund Salunkhe of Kamothe police station said,” The incident occurred on Sunday night after the students had their dinner at the college mess. The victims started complaining of stomach pain with nausea and dysentery around 3.30am on Monday and hence were admitted to MGM hospital in Kamothe. The MGM hospital management have not reported the matter to the police, however, some parents informed the police after which the Kamothe police has started taking the statements of all the 40 patients.”

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