FOOD SAFETY MANAGEMENT-THE "FSSAI WAY"

Here is a take on the subject of food safety management as it exists now, coming directly from a senior official of the FSSAI. It is sad that even after years of talking, planning, thinking, discussing and loud proclamations, there is only a "Law" on paper and nothing much has been done to create even the rudimentary infrastructure to monitor the quality and safety of foods marketed by thousands of processing units in the organized and unorganized sectors leaving the fate of the citizens in the hands of food adulterators and fraudsters! Why even the greatest rogue nation on this earth the Communist China has seen the weak surveillance system prevailing in the country and flooded the Indian market with "Made in India" versions of many reputed Indian food brands after duplicating them in their country! 

"There are around 72 food testing labs in the country but most of them don't have either the equipments or technical persons who can conduct the validation of food additives in the food industry. In view of the requirement to meet standards of FSSAI, there is a great need to develop and / or upgrade food testing laboratories and few steps have been taken towards the same. At least, 125 NABL-accredited food testing laboratories for chemical and microbial testing have been proposed in the FSSAI meeting. Each lab will cater to five districts. In addition to setting up the new labs, the FSSAI will focus on upgrading these existing labs to capacitate them to testing all parameters. These labs would be brought up to a level where they were able to obtain the NABL certification". 

No matter what it costs GOI must give priority to ensuring safety of foods and this can be achieved only if adequate infrastructure, resources and trained personnel are deployed with least compromise. There must be specialized legal food courts to summarily punish food adulterators and fraudsters with no mercy, if necessary by awarding capital punishment to serious crimes. Why not an Indian Food Safety Service (IFSS) cadre, similar to other administrative services, created to deal with food related issues on an all India basis? It is time that the ornamental FSSAI is scrapped altogether and an agency similar to FDA of the US is set up with real "teeth", run by truly qualified technical experts, to confront "head on" the food safety problems of this nation? Sooner this is done better it will be for the country.

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

PRIVATE PLAYERS IN FOOD SAFETY MANAGEMENT-THE PUBLIC CONCERN

The food industry in the US is gigantic measured by any yardstick and the safety of the products marketed by it is supposed to be overseen by the regulatory agency Food and Drug Administration.(FDA). Because of extraordinarily high consumer expectations about food safety and greater vulnerability of the American consumer to food contamination, even occasional and minor food related episodes create an impression that all is not well with the food industry there. On the contrary FDA has been doing its work reasonably well considering the relatively few incidences of food poisoning out of billions of dollars worth manufactured products in the food sector. The phenomenon of private party auditing resorted to by most manufacturers as a voluntary program for avoiding costly lapses in quality and safety, is deeply ingrained in the US system though there have been instances of abuse of confidence by some errant private auditors. Whether the recent criticism about the private audit system is serious cannot be confirmed unless supported by reliable statistics.

"Problems are rife within the quality control system of the U.S. food industry, which relies on private-sector auditors, industry experts say. Food retail executives and other experts say the voluntary system used by the country's $1 trillion food industry is plagued by conflicts of interest, inexperienced auditors and cursory inspections that produce inflated ratings, The Washington Post reported Friday. The use of private inspectors has increased as companies try to protect themselves from lawsuits and recalls that can damage their brand names. But the inspections don't necessarily mean safer products for consumers, experts say.

"It's a business strategy, not a public-health strategy," said David Acheson, former assistant commissioner for food protection at the Food and Drug Administration. Large chain stores and food producers, wanting assurances about the products they place on their shelves and the ingredients they use in making food, often require that their suppliers undergo regular inspections by independent auditors. This all takes place outside any government involvement. Industry experts say that while such inspections can be useful, a major problem is that auditors are typically paid by the companies they are inspecting, creating a conflict of interest for inspectors who might worry about losing business if they don't give high ratings".

The manpower cost in the US, being one of the highest in the world, employing full time technical personnel permanently in required number to monitor can be a costly proposition for the industry and hence dependence on private auditing system cannot avoided altogether. Besides, the private auditors with no Axe to grind can be expected to be more pragmatic and practical in assessing the processing environment and give a right perspective vis-à-vis safety related issues. If there were no private auditors, the task of FDA would have become unmanageable because of resource and personnel constraints. A few auditors becoming wayward cannot deflect the value of the entire system and more stringent performance standards may have to be evolved for their function.

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