Adulteration of foods-Is it rampant in India?

Look at a recent report by the FSSAI about the food safety in the country. Uttar Pradesh "shines" in one area of activity, that is in manufacturing and marketing spurious foods among all the states! What is galling is that this food safety body is publishing such data after getting it "collected" from the states which have the constitutional responsibility to ensure that only clean and safe foods are marketed within their boundaries. What does a laymen understand from such bland figures "released" by the food safety watchdog routinely every once in a while, probably to convince its bosses that it is doing a great job? Passing the buck is a favorite game with babus in the state and central governments since no hard questions are asked and no accountability is demanded. However responsibility for the sorry state of affairs vis-a-vis the consequences Indian population are suffering from, must be squarely laid on the doors of the governments at Delhi as well as in the states. Is it not interesting that the figures referred to pertain to only number of samples found to be adulterated while the sample size has not been mentioned which only can say how effective the vigilance regime is in the country. According to FSSAI the state governments pick up about 60000 samples an year from the 8 million retail outlets spread across the country and normally finds about 20% are adulterated. The million dollar question that begs for an answer is whether the samples picked up really represent the quantum of production in the country. The extent of "rampant" adulteration as being claimed is contained in the following report. 

Food adulteration the state is the second highest in the country. As per the Food Safety and Standards Authority in India, 1,458 food samples were found to be adulterated, unsafe and misbranded in the state. Uttar Pradesh with 4,119 failed food samples has the poorest record. Health Department officials said except certain fruits, most food items in the state were found adulterated. Milk products, cheese, ghee, tea, bottled water, chillies, garlic, turmeric and black pepper are some of the food items that are usually found adulterated in the state. Harmful chemicals are reportedly found in numerous food items and adulteration is rampant as the Health Department doesn't conduct frequent checks. Shopkeepers too promote such products in a bid to make a killing," said a Health Department official. He further said the highest percentage of milk samples fail in the state with the rate having doubled from 22 per cent to 44.3 per cent last year. On Friday, the Bathinda police raided a factory that mixed fake ghee with desi ghee. Similar incidents have also been reported in other parts of the state. There are also reports of pulses and apples being coloured with harmful chemicals. Commissioner of Food Safety, Hussan Lal, said the government had devised a mechanism wherein a person with a particular quantity of milk would be given a licence to sell. "Similarly, 50 designated food safety officers have been deployed across the state. Soon, their number will be raised to 60," he said. Lal further said they would focus on active surveillance to stop the sale and manufacture of adulterated food.

Though there is no unanimity regarding the quantity of processed foods manufactured in India since production estimates are not being put out after the eclipse of the erstwhile DGTD, one can get a fairly good idea looking at various raw materials being processed in the country. According such data, only 2.2% of fruit and vegetables go through the hands of the processing industry while the corresponding figures for milk, meat and poultry are 35%, 21% and 6% respectively. But when it comes to value of production by the processing industry, the estimated out put is valued at $ 300 billion or Rs 21000 lakh crore. With such a gigantic sized manufacturing base can picking up 60000 samples for testing is really sensible? This is a total sham in the name of food safety and how can any citizen get any confidence on the governments commitment to protect him? If the total number of "inspectors", the vital cogs in the safety monitoring regime, is not more than 1000 under the control of state governments the present sampling just works out to 60 samples a year by each inspector, height of inefficiency measured under any yardstick regarding their performance. The present system needs complete overhauling so that the safety management has at least 10000 inspectors and their efficiency is raised to at least half a dozen samples a day. Can India do it? Let us hope governments will wake up to this urgent need without losing more time.   

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

Adulteration of food to cost dearly in Delhi? So says the local government!

Whether one is amused or impressed by the recent proposal by the Delhi government to enhance punishments for the crimes against citizens perpetrated by the food manufacturers and traders depends on how serious one takes the present government in the saddle there. Though this is an admirable proposal, ground reality says that taking action against these criminals in not that easy under the Indian constitution. Majority of the so called food inspectors have doubtful credentials and credibility vis-a-vis their character and integrity and an average citizen must be pardoned if he thinks that such stringent laws in the statute book can only increase the bribe amounts, making them richer much faster! Of course these are only apprehensions and the good intentions of the government may still get translated into much needed relief to the common man from these heinous criminals. One thing is sure that unless the number and frequency of sampling are increased manifold and the judicial system is strengthened, nothing much will come out of this exercise. Let us give some time for the government to work out the logistics before passing any judgment one way or the other.

  "In extreme cases where adulteration could lead to death, Delhi Government has proposed imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years but which may extend up to imprisonment for life and also with fine which shall not be less than Rs 20 lakh," the government said in a statement. As per exiting rule, in such cases, imprisonment is not less than seven years but which may extend up to life imprisonment and fine which shall not be less than Rs 10 lakh. The government has also proposed to increase penalty from existing Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for unhygienic or unsanitary processing or manufacturing of food. An official said it has also been decided that with the enhancement of penalty, the transparency aspect should be strengthened and the prosecution process should be made speedy and time-bound including by setting up of special courts, for which provision exists in the act. The official said that a person, involved in such adulteration which is not injurious to health, will have to face imprisonment for a term which may extend up to three years or with a fine which may extend to Rs 5 lakh or both. "Besides, where such adulterant is injurious to health, imprisonment will not be less than five years which may extend up to life imprisonment or with fine which may extend to Rs 10 lakh rupees, or both," the official said.  According to the government, penalty for misleading advertisement will be Rs 10 lakh or thrice the cost of the advertisement whichever is more.  "As per the proposal, for the purpose of adjudication under this Act, an officer not below the rank of Additional District Magistrate or Metropolitan Magistrate of the district where the alleged offence is committed, shall be notified by the State Government as the Adjudicating Officer for adjudication in the manner as may be prescribed by the central government," the government said.

Food dealers in this country are a wily lot capable of doing any thing including the "Houdini" act to delay justice or demolish cases through hook or crook making governments look foolish and powerless. While paying regular "haftha" to food inspectors for not checking their samples or giving good samples for testing purpose to boost the statistics or destroying the samples at the lab level or in the courts are routinely practiced. Using such harsh punishment threats, extortion also is possible to increase the "haftha" rate! One may ask why this pessimism on a good intentioned policy pronouncement by the government? Answer is simple. Indians are Indians and their attitude, behavior, respect for law, civic sense, moral responsibility etc are debatable with very few bothered about things beyond their immediate families! Only some genuine NGOs are fighting this food adulteration battle but they are far and few to make any dent on the scale of corruption and insensitivity prevalent among politicians and bureaucrats in this country.. Let us hope Delhi government will succeed where others have miserably failed the people of India.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

Food Adulteration cases withdrawal-Is it justified?

A million dollar question that may pose some problem to government of India pertains to the thousands of food adulteration cases pending before various judicial courts through out the country. This issue became a hot potato to the new government in Delhi when trader associations filed a plea with the Prime Minister's Office to dismiss all such cases immediately since the present food quality and safety laws have replaced the old ones prevailing between 1956 and 2012. But is it ethical for the government to direct the judiciary to ignore such cases, some of them pending for decades, when prosecutions were initiated based on laboratory evidence? A crime does not become a crime just because the law has been slightly tweaked! The new Food Safety and Standards Act has inherited all the liabilities and assets of erstwhile Prevention of Food adulteration Act 1954 and therefore a crime committed then cannot be condoned under any circumstances. Here is a take on this issue which makes a funny reading.  .

"Considering the plea submitted by the Chandigarh chapter of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) regarding withdrawal of cases registered under the erstwhile Prevention of food adulteration Act (PFAA), 1954, the Prime Minister Office (PMO) has directed the Food Safety Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) to take appropriate action. A significant number of cases were registered against traders under the erstwhile PFAA and are pending in various courts across the country. According to CAIT (Chandigarh) President Harish Garg, many of these cases are as old as 20 years and are still in the initial stages. "Now with the PFAA being replaced by the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, all the cases registered under the previous Act have no relevance. Highlighting the problems faced by traders, I had told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that all such cases should be compounded because there is no merit to continue these cases after the replacement of the Act." Garg said the PMO has considered the issue sympathetically and directed the FSSAI to take appropriate actions. The move will help traders carry out their businesses in a smooth manner. Garg also said earlier the issue was also taken up by the Central office of CAIT with former Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, urging him to evolve a "compounding of offences". Alternatively, if compounding of cases is not feasible, then "fast-track court or arbitration or reconciliation proceedings may be initiated, to clear all the pending cases".

What is appalling is that the PMO has unwittingly played into the hands of this lobby which is spearheading the campaign to withdraw these cases by directing the FSSAI to take action in the matter. It is not clear whether PMO has directed FSSAI to withdraw these cases or to just process their plea appropriately as per the law? No doubt the judiciary has to take some blame for this sorry situation because of its delaying procedures compounded by ruthless lawyers who try to prolong the cases as much as possible. Is it not a joke that some of the accused parties in such cases do not even live to day because of repeated adjournments and prevarications by the clever lawyers which drags such cases for decades deliberately serving the cause of those being prosecuted!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

Old food adulteration cases to be dropped? A questionable action

A million dollar question that may pose some problem to government of India pertains to the thousands of food adulteration cases pending before various judicial courts through out the country. This issue became a hot potato to the new government in Delhi when trader associations filed a plea with the Prime Minister's Office to dismiss all such cases immediately since the present food quality and safety laws have replaced the old ones prevailing between 1956 and 2012. But is it ethical for the government to direct the judiciary to ignore such cases, some of them pending for decades, when prosecutions were initiated based on laboratory evidence? A crime does not become a crime just because the law has been slightly tweaked! The new Food Safety and Standards Act has inherited all the liabilities and assets of erstwhile Prevention of Food adulteration Act 1954 and therefore a crime committed then cannot be condoned under any circumstances. Here is a take on this issue which makes a funny reading.  .

"Considering the plea submitted by the Chandigarh chapter of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) regarding withdrawal of cases registered under the erstwhile Prevention of food adulteration Act (PFAA), 1954, the Prime Minister Office (PMO) has directed the Food Safety Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) to take appropriate action. A significant number of cases were registered against traders under the erstwhile PFAA and are pending in various courts across the country. According to CAIT (Chandigarh) President Harish Garg, many of these cases are as old as 20 years and are still in the initial stages. "Now with the PFAA being replaced by the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, all the cases registered under the previous Act have no relevance. Highlighting the problems faced by traders, I had told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that all such cases should be compounded because there is no merit to continue these cases after the replacement of the Act." Garg said the PMO has considered the issue sympathetically and directed the FSSAI to take appropriate actions. The move will help traders carry out their businesses in a smooth manner. Garg also said earlier the issue was also taken up by the Central office of CAIT with former Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, urging him to evolve a "compounding of offences". Alternatively, if compounding of cases is not feasible, then "fast-track court or arbitration or reconciliation proceedings may be initiated, to clear all the pending cases".

What is appalling is that the PMO has unwittingly played into the hands of this lobby which is spearheading the campaign to withdraw these cases by directing the FSSAI to take action in the matter. It is not clear whether PMO has directed FSSAI to withdraw these cases or to just process their plea appropriately as per the law? No doubt the judiciary has to take some blame for this sorry situation because of its delaying procedures compounded by ruthless lawyers who try to prolong the cases as much as possible. Is it not a joke that some of the accused parties in such cases do not even live to day because of repeated adjournments and prevarications by the clever lawyers which drags such cases for decades deliberately serving the cause of those being prosecuted!

V.H.POTTY

http://vhpotty.blogspot.com

http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

Food safety-Whose baby it is in Kerala?

There was a time when Prevention of food Adulteration Act of 1956 )PFA) was ruling the roost till Government of India suddenly decided to replace it with the new Food Safety and Standards Act in 2006 (FSSA)which took more than five years to bring to fruition. An "Authority" was set up for implementing the regulations though it had no real authority to do much when it comes to violations happening in different states in which the enforcement responsibility is vested. One of the very first things the Authority did was a typical bureaucratic firman that every food handler must register with it and get a license, reminiscent of our early years of independence when every human activity was sought to be regulated through the much hated "license raj"! There is very little improvements at the ground level as far as food adulteration incidences are concerned and it is "happy merry go around" for food criminals and fraudsters who seem to have a vice-like grip on the consumers of this country. Look at the situation in Kerala where two different departments are fighting for hegemony as to who has the power to "inspection" of foods suspected of adulteration! Read further about this sorry state of affairs vis-a-vis the well being of the citizen! 

"Even after the full-fledged Food Safety and Standards Act-2006 came into existence, there is no clarity as to which agency should conduct the inspection of the food sold in the State - the Food Safety Department or the Health Department. Reply to an RTI query submitted on October 16, 2014, shows that the authority to conduct food inspection is vested with the Food Safety Department, not the Health Department."The lack of clarity in the matter is the primary reason why the Food Safety and Standards Act could not be implemented successfully in Kerala," says sources in the Health Department."Call it a paradox. The Health Department, which has around 5,000 staff, carries out all the activities pertaining to food safety, but without any legal backing. Meanwhile, the Food Safety Department, which is legally responsible for such activities, is facing severe staff shortage. The issue could have been easily sorted out if the Health Department officials were given the power to conduct food safety inspections," they pointed out. The RTI report says that as per a  government circular (66562/RC(3)/2012 LSGD), the role of a Health Inspector is restricted to field inspection. The local bodies issues licence based on the inspection conducted by a Health Inspector.  "But, that is a circular, not a law,"  said the sources.The RTI report further points out that according to the Food Safety and Standards Act, a medical certificate from a registered medical practitioner is mandatory, not the health card issued by the Health Department. "So, where is the legal backing for the inspections being carried out by the Health Department? Effective checking would be possible only if both the departments go hand-in-hand. In every gramapanchayat, there is one health inspector, and two or more junior health inspectors. Sadly, the government has not been able to utilise their services, and has restricted them to the areas of immunisation, family planning and prevention of non-communicable disease, which do not require strict monitoring," said the sources.The Health Department has a tendency to follow the Madras Public Health Act-1939 and the Travancore Cochin Public Health Act-1955 quite often. However, reply to another RTI query moved in the Health Department on November 22, 2014, states that Chapter-XII (from Section-114 to 121) that deals with food control, and sections of Madras Public Health Act that gives the Health Department power to tackle food safety issues, had been annulled with the implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act. Directorate of Health Services Director Dr P K Jameela said that the Health Department had the power to intervene everything that has something to do with the well-being of the people. "Both the departments have to go hand-in-hand to make the process successful. Besides, a Unified Public Health Act can settle this issue to a great extent," she added'.

It is still not clear why the portfolio of food quality and safety is entrusted to the Ministry of Health at the Center while there is a full-fledged Ministry of Food Industries and Ministry of Consumer Affairs, either of which could have done a better job. Besides any legal or punitive action again offenders can be taken only by state authorities with clearly spelt out responsibility and accountability. Why there should be any problem at all to integrate these vigilance and prosecuting responsibilities to an integrated central agency with judicial powers is not understandable. Why not set up specialized Food Crime Courts to punish the guilty with least loss of time and send a powerful signal to criminals that they can not escape the long arm of the law through delays and obfuscation? As long as the governments in states and at the Center are not serious about these things India will prod on like this only and citizens will have to repose more faith in God to save them from harmful foods in stead of the rulers they have elected to look after their welfare!  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

FOOD TESTING-NEPAL'S NEW INITIATIVE

The problem of food adulteration is assuming serious proportions in many countries including many economically wealthy ones and it is becoming more and more acute in most of the third world countries including India. The root cause of such a disturbing situation is under developed infrastructure for monitoring, inadequate testing personnel and poor analytic facilities. Bureaucratic and legal delays in processing the food adulteration cases further compound the problem. Against such a background it is pleasing to hear from Nepal that the government there, in spite of the current political instability, is taking progressive steps to tackle food safety problems. Here is a take on this new development which must be applauded.

"The Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC) has decided to put its mobile inspection van on the road by the end of this week. The vehicle is equipped with advanced equipment enabling department inspectors to test the quality of a food sample instantly on the spot. The DFTQC will use the van to test for adulteration like inedible colours and unwanted micro-organisms in food sold in the market. "We will be using the van to check the quality of food items being sold in the market," said Pramod Koirala, spokesperson for the DFTQC. "It will help food inspectors to test the food on the spot and take immediate action," he said. The DFTQC has rolled out its lab on wheels amid growing cases of adulteration of food stuff. Last year, the department found 20.83 percent the food items it checked to be adulterated or substandard. According to the DFTQC, bottled water, milk and milk products, ghee and edible oil and sweets products are among the substandard products found in the market. Currently, the department needs to send the food specimens collected from the market to its laboratory situated at the DFTQC's central office for tests. This has delayed identifying impurities in the food items and punitive action against the wrong doers. This has also made its food quality control ineffective. "Thevan will allow us to file a case or recommend action against offenders immediately," said Koirala. According to him, there will be two food testing officers in the van . Although the DFTQC plans to test 1,000 food samples every year, its inspection effort has been ineffective due to lack of manpower and other resources. Currently, the department has been conducting inspections only once a week. With the use of the labvan , the DFTQC has planned to increase the frequency of market inspection. "As the using the van is cost effective for the purpose, we will also increase the number of food samples for cross checking," said Koirala.
The department acquired the van , which has a price tag of Rs 10 million".

With almost one fifth of the food products made in Nepal being found adulterated, one outdoor van for on-the-spot testing may be too few to cope up with the situation. It is possible the government may expand this type of facilities by investing more money in acquiring such modern mobile outdoor labs in the coming years after gaining experience with the first one currently launched. Unless the manufacturers and traders involved in food related activities are sure about severe consequences of playing around with the lives of consumers through unsafe products, the ever increasing number of food related health episodes cannot be checked satisfactorily. Nepal is setting a fine example to other countries to follow with such new initiatives.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

FOOD ADULTERATION-A UNIVERSAL THREAT TO CONSUMERS

The hapless citizens in India can take solace from a recent scholarly report about fraudulent practices adopted by manufacturers of foods world over to get economic benefits at the expense of the consumer. One is familiar with the famous saying of one of the past prime ministers of India describing corruption as universal and not confined to India. Same appears to be true with food adulteration also. It is surprising that the fraudsters are always one step ahead of the safety agencies when it comes to detecting adulteration and their techniques are increasingly becoming more and more sophisticated with time. Food frauds literally constitute a high tech industry because of the enormous economic gains inherent in adulteration. Interestingly costlier the food product, more incentive is available for evolving appropriate methods to mimic the original product with cheap alternatives.Here is a gist of the report that elaborates on economic frauds perpetrated in the US based on reliable data base. 

"Olive oil, milk, honey, saffron, orange juice, coffee and apple juice are the seven most likely food ingredients to be targets for intentional or economically motivated adulteration of food, or food fraud, according to analysis of the first U.S. public database created to compile information on risk factors for food fraud published in the Journal of Food Science. The database was created by the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) and provides baseline information to assist interested parties in assessing the risks of specific products. It includes a total of 1,305 records for food fraud based on a total of 667 scholarly, media and other publicly available reports. Food fraud is a collective term that encompasses the deliberate substitution, addition, tampering or misrepresentation of food, food ingredients or food packaging, or false or misleading statements made about a product for economic gain. A more specific type of fraud is the fraudulent addition of non-authentic substances or removal or replacement of authentic substances without the purchaser's knowledge for economic gain of the seller. According to the authors of the paper, food fraud may be more risky than traditional threats to the food supply because the adulterants used in these activities often are unconventional and designed to avoid detection through routine analyses. "The vast majority of food fraud is primarily technical and economical," said John Spink, associate director with the anti-counterfeiting and product protection program at Michigan State University. "However, there are some cases where there can be serious health consequences as illustrated when melamine was added to infant formula and pet food in order to falsify the level of protein content in these products."

When it comes to food adulteration no other country can beat India because this is a country where every one has unlimited freedom to indulge in such activities with no possibility of retribution. Though food laws that exist are comparable to international ones, there is very little activity at the ground level to monitor or detect adulterated foods in the market or punish the guilty. Milk is mentioned as one of the top adulterated products but can any country beat the ingenuity of the Indian fraudsters in evolving a milk completely without a cow or a buffalo, using ingredients like detergents, urea, cheap oil etc that competes with genuine milk in the market with complete impunity? Of course Chinese may be providing close competition by using the deadly Melamine to increase protein values in milk for economic gains! Saffron is another commodity that attracts fraudsters like the honey beckoning the bees! Consumers are invariably advised by well meaning pundits that they should go for branded foods marketed by established food manufacturers but it is like asking people to eat cake if bread is not affordable! Besides almost all commodities that do not undergo any significant are not available in the branded format from reputed industry players. There does not appear to be any lasting solution to this vexed problem. Stringent punishment to proven fraudsters in double quick time, if made the hall mark of the food safety regime, may see a decline in adulteration cases significantly. A separate and dedicated food fraud court stream under the judiciary for fast tracking such cases may also have a deterrent effect.  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

THE MOTHER OF ALL STATISTICS!-AN INSIGHT INTO US FOOD SECTOR

Reliable data can only be the basis for any future planning and this is the Achille's Heel with most developing countries. Take for instance the situation in India where critical data and information are neither available nor accessible easily even if they exist. Such an environment is ideally suited for many consultants to proliferate and spin money in the name of "Reports". It is doubtful if these reports are worth the paper on which they are written. While there are a few multinational consultants who thrive in the country mainly on government grants for making such reports, there are also agencies, often managed by retired bureaucrats and others making money at the expense of the tax payer of this country. Contrast this with the fantastic range of statistics available freely on different facets of trade and industry, society, environment, economic status etc at both macro and micro levels in many developed countries. Here is a sample from the US.

"Among the relevant data in the report:

• "Individuals age 15 and over in the United States spent, on average, 1.22 hours per day engaged in eating and drinking activities."

• "Also in 2009, the average household in the United States spent $6,372 on food – which includes money spent on food at home and money spent on food away from home."

• 41 percent of that total was spent on food away from home.

• More than 2 million workers – 1.5 percent of civilian workers in the United States – are employed as cooks.

• 75 percent of those cooks are employed in eating and drinking establishments; 25 percent work in places including hospitals, schools and nursing homes.

• Fast food cooks earn the least nationwide, at an average hourly wage of $8.97; institutional cooks earn the most, at $12.44.

• Cooks in Honolulu earn the most, on average, at $14.72 per hour; cooks in the Morganton, N.C., area earn the least, at $7.49 per hour.

• Cooks in the Puget Sound area earn an average of $11.05 per hour, while bartenders earn $9.27 and wait staff earn $8.59".

Most despicable reality is that even on crucial area of food adulteration and food poisoning there is no worth while information in India conveying the impression that Indian consumers are "happy" with the safety of foods provided to them by the manufacturers, traders, retailers and caterers! Many activist organizations have brought out the fact that India is a major haven for food adulterators and fraudsters with a benign food safety "Authority" unable to do any thing due to the bureaucratic nature of the agency and grossly understaffed technical facilities and infrastructure. The country also does not have a clue regarding the need for trained food technologists and technicians, required by the industry as well as the service sector. It was amusing to read about a recent report from Kerala where there appears to be a dearth of skilled artisans in preparing Latcha Parotha, a favorite wheat preparation of the population there and the restaurants trying to woo experienced "cooks" by offering Rs 10000 per month! Indians have no idea about the diversity of eating habits amongst them selves because there are no reliable data generated based on field level surveys. Unless reliable and extensive macro and micro data are generated the country's planning will always be faulty and behind the time.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

FSSAI "BOASTS" AND GROUND REALITIES-CAPITAL OF FOOD ADULTERATION

FSSAI was on a high drive prior to the Commonwealth Games event, making all types of high decibel claims regarding its "efforts" to make Delhi eateries safe for the international athletes as if these visitors were going to flood these restaurants in droves. While nothing much was heard further regarding the effect of such "strong actions" (at least on paper), the recent reported disappearance of 10 tons of adulterated khoa, the base material used in hundreds of sweetmeat products, under the very nose of the inspection authorities and police personnel speaks "volume" about the toothless nature of this bureaucratic body vested with the task of making food safe for Indian consumers. If such things can happen in Delhi so easily, what about the fate of people living in other places far away from Delhi within India where safety monitoring practices are practically nil.

In a feat that makes Houdini's disappearing acts seem like child's play, 10 tonnes of khoya seized by the department for prevention of food adulteration from the Khoya Mandi near Mori Gate on Wednesday, vanished without a trace within hours of being impounded. All that is left of the largest seizure in the capital of what is suspected to be adulterated khoya, are samples lifted by PFA department officials for testing. Behind the disappearance is a familiar story of callousness and lack of coordination among government agencies. The consignment lay in the open at the mandi's auction site all morning as officials tried to 'persuade' the police to seize it. While the PFA department claims the police refused to take the consignment into their possession despite a written request, the cops say no such request came to them through "official channels". The losers in this battle will surely be consumers in Delhi, as the khoya is likely to find its way into sweets sold during the festival season.

In the above sorry episode, callousness and shirking of responsibility have been cited as reasons but collusion between the adulterators and safety management personnel cannot be ruled out altogether. It is a common knowledge that there are more than 1000 dairies around Delhi distributing adulterated milk to the extent of one lakh liters a day under the very nose of the FSSAI Czar with no one really bothering about its impact on the health of the citizens. The infamous synthetic milk made from urea, detergent and any fat (animal fat or palmoil), invented 15 years ago by a resourceful Haryana milkman is reported to be the most "popular" source for extending natural milk by the fraudsters. Presently dairies with processing capacity less than 75000 liters do not require licensing and therefore are having a free run in the market. One can only hang one's head in shame when the foods consumed every day in this country are blatantly tinkered with such impunity by the "organized" food adulteration "industry" while those vested with protecting the citizens enjoy the comforts of air-conditioned offices in Delhi satisfied with making "stern warnings" periodically!

V.H.POTTY

http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

THE PIOUS HOPE!-A COUNTRY'S HELPLESS GOVERNMENT!

Shirking of responsibility? That is what it is when a supposed to be responsible democratic government of a country like India states openly that it has done its duty to the citizens by "asking" the state governments to strictly implement the food laws of the country! It was only a few days ago a senior minister in GOI promptly declared that percentage wise incidences of adulteration is coming down but a closer look at his statement revealed that the number of samples picked up for testing was just a few thousand from the market, a minuscule part of millions of packs of food sold in the country every day!. The country is becoming a laughing stock of the world when it comes to food safety in the domestic market and even the establishment of the high profile FSSAI with full "Authority" 2 years ago has made little difference at the ground level. GOI seems to be groping in the dark regarding the extent of adulteration of food that is prevalent in the country and even now it is contented with issuing "orders and instructions" without any serious intention of pursuing them. How come the food "adulteration" industry in the country has become so powerful that a sovereign government cannot do much to rein in their heinous activities? When the government says it has only "advisory' powers in administrating the food laws, some thing is seriously wrong with the system that is in vogue and earlier this is addressed better it will be for the country.

"The Centre on Thursday pitched for taking strict action against those who indulge in adulteration of food items, and urged states to implement the existing law strictly. Besides, it decided to ask the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to undertake a detailed study to determine the effects of harmful chemicals on human beings, including oxytocin and calcium carbide, which are being injected in vegetables and fruits to ripen them faster. Sale of any adulterated and misbranded article of food is an offence punishable with minimum imprisonment of six months and a fine, which is not less than Rs 1,000. In case, adulterated food stuff causes death or grievous hurt, the offence is punishable with imprisonment, which may extend to a life term and a penalty that shall not be less than Rs 5,000. Last week, TOI had reported how a section of farmers and traders in a bid to make vegetables and fruits look garden fresh were relying on injecting chemicals that could cause nervous breakdowns, sterility and various neurotic complications. Replying to a calling attention motion in the Rajya Sabha, minister of state for health Dinesh Trivedi said on Thursday ICMR and Indian Council of Agriculture Research would carry out a new study to quantify the level of damage such chemicals are causing. On administration of all safety laws, he said: "Action against persons who indulge in production and trade of adulterated or misbranded food articles is taken by the concerned state and UT governments". His remarks immediately prompted members in the Upper House to say that the government should not shirk its responsibility by saying the matter concerns only states. Trivedi, however, said: "The Centre lays down the standards for various food articles and regulations on use of additives, labelling and contaminants. It primarily plays an advisory role in its implementation besides carrying out various statutory functions/duties assigned to it under the various provisions of the Act. It also issues appropriate directions and alerts for keeping strict vigil on the quality of food items within their respective jurisdiction for ensuring safe and wholesome food for consumers".

Is it not a pity that the parliamentarians, supposed to be the guardians protecting the well being of the citizens are more concerned about raising their own salary, perks and pension than forcing the ministers to exercise their administrative responsibilities for which they are elected and paid for? With the judiciary embroiled in painful delays in meting out justice and extensive corruption eating at the vitals of the society, fraudsters and adulterators are having a field day sucking the system to amass fabulous fortunes unhindered. Is it not an irony that those consumers in other countries importing foods from India are more fortunate in getting products with more quality and better safety than the common man in the country because of the stringent standards insisted upon and enforced by the foreign buyers?. Despite periodic declarations by junior as well as senior officials of FSSAI, about their grandiose plan for remedying the situation, the wait for a better to morrow when clean and safe water and foods with government backed assurance, continues with no end in sight to the present sorry mess.

V.H.POTTY

http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

A VAIN BOAST-"OSTRICH IN THE SAND" ATTITUDE!

It is amusing to hear the country's Health Minister making a pronouncement on food adulteration with a tall claim that food adulteration in India is "declining" based on some spooky statistics. What is not understandable is whether the Minister really believes in his statement or he is just presenting figures put before him by the babus in his ministry. Either way it is a cruel joke on the Indian consumer, especially in many smaller towns and semi-urban areas who know too well how dangerous the foods have become in the country. Those in bigger cities are fortunate as they are better placed to get relatively safer foods from many super markets that dot these places.

"The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 has so far stood the test of the times over the years since its enactment, says Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, as according to the latest available information provided by the states, the percentage of adulteration in food articles declined from 8.44 percent of the samples collected in 2006 to 7.73 percent in 2008. Samples of various foods including milk products, edible oil, vegetables, sweets and other food articles, are taken regularly by the food authorities of the states, and action is taken in case of complaints of adulterated food against the guilty under the provisions of PFA Act, 1954, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informs. According to the latest available information provided by the Indian states and Union Territory Governments, the details regarding number of cases registered and challaned has gone down from 7695 in 2006 to 3250 in 2008, and the number of cases convicted decreased from 1284 in 2006 to 549 in 2008. Several steps have been taken by the Government to check adulteration which includes lifting of samples by the food (health) authorities of states for testing, conducting raids at suspected places and taking action against such persons. The standards for various food articles have been revised and updated"

The gross negligence of food safety monitoring, entrusted to the state agencies is too well known to bear repetition and the archival infrastructure for food analysis in most of the cities makes it impossible even for a "honest" food inspector ( a rare breed to find), if he picks up samples from traders and retail shops for quality checking. It is a reflection on the total apathy on the part of the parliamentarians to allow the Minister to get away with such brazen "untruths". Probably the Minister needs to pay more attention to food safety and quality before accepting the "data" blindly!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

THE FOOD SAFETY "SHAM"-ALLAHABAD EXAMPLE

In a severe indictment of the working of Food Safety Authorities vested with safe guarding the health of Indian citizens from spurious foods, it has been reported that practically nothing is being done in the city of Allahabad in monitoring the quality and safety of food materials offered by the retail traders though there exists the necessary machinery for doing the job decently. It is often said that Indians are good in drafting laws but weak in implementing them at the ground level. This has been brought out very clearly by the Allahabad sham.

"Though there are numerous food inspectors working with the AMC whose duty is to collect food samples. However, the food samples were last collected several months back by a handful of food inspectors. To make matters worse, even after the food sample is collected and sent to the laboratory, it is not ensured that about the getting the result of the test. So the situation remains the same. The food inspectors are least bothered about the health of the people. Rather than checking the quality of food being sold in the market, they receive a fixed monthly commission from the shops. Thus, they remain mute witness to the food materials comprising with the health of people"

It is a pity that these so called food inspectors neither inspect nor exercise vigilance over the quality and safety of foods in the market, after drawing fat salaries from the exchequer and their loyalty is to the traders but not to the nation or its citizens. Probably Chinese example of executing the criminals in the melamine tainted milk episode, is some thing India should think of in bringing to book our own desi criminals, both the perpetrators as well as their abettors. How impotent FSSAI is amply demonstrated by the sordid scenario that is unfolding in cities like Allahabad where consumers are exposed to serious health risks by consuming adulterated foods day in and day out..

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

DECLINING FOOD SAFETY-ADULTERATION ON THE INCREASE

India is a vast country and its management is highly complex requiring multifaceted talents in different fields. In the food area there is a mix of organized and informal industrial sectors manufacturing thousands of products with value addition varying from 25% to 2500%. Besides there are more than 8 million retailers peddling foods- raw, semi processed as well as fully processed, in loose and packed formats. Governments at the state and center have a constitutional responsibility to safeguard the interests of the citizens by preventing sale of spurious, adulterated, unsafe and sub-standard quality foods. But ever since independence, during the last 6 decades people's representatives have failed miserably in restraining unsocial criminals who indulge in rampant food adulteration to make illegal profits. Here is the case of Ahmedabad Muncipal Corpration which has recently enumerated the difficulties it is facing in keeping ahead of the food adulterators

"Samples of maida, cow milk, khoya, ghee, curd, chilly powder, jam and pulses, among others failed to meet the stipulated standards. According to official figures available, the percentage of food adulterants has increased from 11 to 15 per cent in last 10 years. Recently, AMC recovered tons of spurious food items in the city. The existing public health laboratory functioning from a makeshift space at NHL Medical College in VS Hospital compound has the capacity to test an average of 15 to 20 samples. It also takes at least two to three days for the results to be out. However, AMC city limits have grown from the earlier 196 sq m to 466 sq m. Within these limits, there are thousands of food establishments which need to be monitored regularly and inspected for their quality of food".

The above situation applies to hundreds of other bodies also across the country. How can the policy makers expect to monitor the quality of food in the market with practically no worthwhile laboratory facilities or experienced personnel available. Most of the existing facilities can hardly handle about 10-20 samples a day while the population can be in the range of 1 to 100 lakh! No wonder adulterators have a field day in this country riding high on the procrastination and inaction by the country's politicians and bureaucrats who do not seem to have neither time nor inclination to attend to the woes of the citizens.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

SPURIOUS FOODS-CONSUMERS BEWARE!

Food adulteration is a highly profitable 'business' in India since the culprits are confident of going scot-free without suffering any punishment under the prevailing lax consumer safety enforcement regime in the country. Though some of the deterrent provisions in the PFA are draconian in nature providing the needed teeth, it suffers from lack of biting power as manifested by poor infrastructure for implementation. The result is wide spread adulteration of practically every food that is traded in the market place. Even the so called bottled water at Rs12-15 a liter, is not safe because untreated water of indifferent quality is also sold along with genuine ones, in spite of the existing mandatory provision for ISI mark. Interestingly very few convictions take place in a vast country like India and even these cases take years for the court to take decisions.

Except for a few diligent journalists and some NGOs, no one seems to be too much concerned about this sorry state of affairs and consumers are in the vice like grip of this food mafia who seem to be a law unto themselves. Here is a sample case. "The revelation of large-scale anomalies at an edible oil wholesale store at Sham Nagar yesterday brings to the fore the illegal practices being adopted by some traders of food products in the city who are playing with the health of the residents by selling sub-standard quality food products found spurious and adulterated in many cases".

Such occurrences are too frequent and common across the country and the new food safety over lords in the FSSA of India excel only in platform proclamations with lot of platitudes, in stead of any meaningful ground level action. As long as the situation does not seriously compromise the health of the population, very little is going to be done, leaving the consumers to bear with the economic burden in the form of sub-standard foods. Unless there is a political will, as we have seen in China where the perpetrators of the melamine tainted milk tragedy were executed, adulterators will continue to have a field day playing with the lives of the hapless citizens of this country.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

FOOD SAFETY CENTERS-NEED OF THE HOUR

Free trade regime which is mandatory for members of WTO, brings along with problems hitherto unseen or unanticipated. Different countries have food quality monitoring systems of their own and some are very strict while others have less rigorous enforcement practices. No country in the world is self-sufficient in all foods and dependence on imports of some ingredients is inevitable for the processing industry to flourish. Taking the case of India, the Food Standards and Safety Authority has some of the best provisions for protecting the consumers from food related problems but enforcement is totally lacking raising questions about the dependability of the system. Export rejections at the importing countries are often high while there is very little control about what is imported into the country.

If foreign buyers have to repose confidence on Indian food products, necessary world class infrastructure to assess and control the quality of products is absolutely necessary. What India has now, is an apology of a system that cannot be an envy of any one! Look at a small country like Northern Ireland where no effort is spared to ensure their food products are of world class standard. "The £2 million (US$3.2 million) Centre for Assured, Safe, and Traceable Food (ASSET), funded in part by Northern Ireland's Department for Employment and Learning, will research new technologies to detect contaminants in food, which agri-food industries will implement in their facilities to ensure high standards of food safety".

Rampant adulteration of foods go undetected and unpunished, in spite of stringent laws on paper which attract more and more criminals into food retailing. This has led to a situation where foreign buyers are becoming increasingly intrusive to protect what they have ordered and prevent food related safety problems with imported foods from India. There is no worthwhile central agency with necessary power and facilities to prevent manufacture, market and export of processed foods of sub-standard quality. Northern Ireland is showing the way as to how quality and safety can be upgraded, if one has sincerity, vision and resources.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com