ARE ALL HERBAL PRODUCTS SAFE?-THE NEW CONCERNS

In a world where truth and fiction can always get mixed up, herbs and products derived from them are gaining a significant foothold in the minds of consumers who look for better food and well being products to keep themselves free from health afflictions. While there are no two opinions regarding the efficacy of herbs when consumed regularly to protect from a number of ailments of temporary nature, over reliance on them can be dangerous. One of the problems facing consumers is that rarely one can get reliable scientific information based on modern studies that can substantiate widely varying claims made by the industry and often "traditional use " is cited as proof for their supposed benefits. Most countries including the US have very weak control regimes to check spurious products and untenable claims. There have been reports that even Allopathic medicines including steroids are mixed with traditional herbal products to attenuate their effects. Against such a background asking consumers to believe what is claimed is not justified by any yardstick. There are many products categorized as "health aids" and if they are intended for ingestion they must conform to quality standards and safety protocols expected from any food. It will be a big tragedy if herbal products suffer because of negligence and lack of oversight by the governments regarding their true value.

"The practice of 'medical pluralism' in which both conventional and alternative therapies are widely used in treating ailments has also created a massive demand for such products among the general population. As there are many herbal based products entering the Malaysian market lately, the healthcare professionals and general public need to understand that, compared to the registration of an allopathic or conventional modern medicines, herbal based products do not need to undergo any human clinical trial to show its efficacy. In most cases for the herbal product registration process, the manufacturers of such products just need to provide evidence on the safety (e.g. the products are free from any contamination of heavy metals and other poisonous substances) and quality (e.g. compliance to good manufacturing standards) aspect of the product to the drug regulators for registration purpose. The public also needs to understand that herb based preparations do not mean that they are free from any toxic effects. Some herbs can interact with modern medicines or other food based substances and this can cause more harm than good if taken concomitantly. Besides, the manufacturers also need to comply with the advertising law for such products so that no exaggerated claims about the product efficacy are made, for example, curing chronic diseases and cancers, for instance. The problem in Malaysia is that many herbal product manufacturers overclaim their products efficacy and use testimonials to market their products. I would like to suggest to the Health Ministry to work with experts in local universities to publish a simple guideline on how to use herbal products effectively. In my experience, I have found that many consumers are confused on what herbal preparations they need to take and most of them are influenced by irrational marketing tactics by some unscrupulous manufacturers and direct selling companies. The developed guideline should be made available to all health premises and media so that it can really empower the consumers on safe and effective use of herbal preparations. In this regard, healthcare professionals such as pharmacists and medical doctors also need to play a greater role in advising their patients on quality use of herbal preparations. I believe a 'Quality Use of Herbal Preparations' awareness campaign is a way forward to keep the tradition going and this definitely needs proactive measures from all the interested stakeholders".

The dividing line between food and medicine is very thin indeed and Hippocrates stated this truth long ago when he said "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food"! There are thousands of herbal products made by many manufacturers, some of them in the business for generations and others relatively new players and all of them suffer from some credibility gap because of lack of self regulation and inadequate oversight by the government. For example how can a simple consumer rely on a product, the label of which does not reveal anything about the product nature and the advantages and disadvantages of consuming it for short period as well as in the long term? What about the effect of combining common Allopathic medicines along with them or regarding any food restrictions necessary to get the claimed advantages? There is no mention about the active ingredients in these preparations invariably! It is time the world gets together and bring out a scientifically compiled encyclopedia on herbs that gives A to Z about herbs and herbal products for the benefit of the confused consumers and such a guide can help in choosing the right type of herbs for deriving the required benefits from them.

V.H.POTTY
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"GASTROPUBS"-A DECLINING TREND

In what way a pub is different from a restaurant? The answer is very simple. Pub is the place where one goes for having a "drink" that is inebriating while people depend on the restaurants to experience gastronomical pleasure from the fares served there. What can be a Gastropub different from the above two institutions? Well this is a place where one can have both drinks and food! Though the term Gastropub started popular only during the last two decades, there has been a silent change in the industry with many pubs quietly starting food service without calling themselves Gastropubs. To day most people expect good food service in pubs and it is very difficult to survive i the market without pampering to the taste buds of the patrons who frequent such establishments.

The gastropub is off. The formerly much-loved eateries and watering holes of choice of metropolitan foodies look to have had their day. This week the death knell will be sounded when The Good Food Guide, which has chronicled the nation's best restaurants for 60 years and is about to publish its 2012 edition, will deem the word unpalatable in these tough economic times. It has banned it from this and future editions of the guide. Widely credited with launching the gastropub revolution in 1991, the Eagle in Clerkenwell, London, began offering customers quality food from an open kitchen alongside the bar, starting a trend that many followed. But Elizabeth Carter, consultant editor for the guide, believes that the term had become a byword for an establishment's ambitions and, at a time when pubs have been hit hard by the recession, this inflexible attitude was becoming a thing of the past. "Our feeling with the gastropub was that it was a bit of a bandwagon that a lot of people have jumped on to. A lot of chains have taken that gastropub style. "I think customers are getting bored with it. Pubs have to be socially diverse, they have to offer many things whether you pop in for a drink and a snack or you want a proper meal." This view is supported by a Leisure Wallet report released last week by financial advisers Zolfo Cooper, which showed that the average number of pub visits per person a month had dropped from five to four in the past year and that the average spend per visit was down by 19 per cent to £15.08

There is an impression that those who frequent bars and pubs, care more about the drinks and food is only secondary in their scheme of things. Besides those who take a couple of drinks can hardly distinguish between good and indifferent quality dishes! But one thing that makes gastropubs a more acceptable place is that when drinks are consumed along with foods, the alcohol in these drinks may be less dangerous to the health. Generally the safety and hygiene aspects in any food and beverage establishment are monitored by food safety personnel while bars and pubs do not come under any government overseeing department though Excise officials have the responsibility for checking the quality and safety of alcoholic drinks served in there. Whether effect of unsafe foods will be less harsh if alcohol is also consumed along with is not certain.

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

TECHNOLOGY PARKS-NEED OF THE ENTREPRENEURS

What prevents countries with predominant agricultural base to establish industries that can add value to the raw materials and provide high employment opportunities? The simple answer is the hopelessness of their infrastructure! A successful industry to be set up must have a vibrant entrepreneur, adequate feed stock of required quality, proper support facilities like power and water in plenty and access to reliable and efficient technology. Why is that in a country like India entrepreneurs are reluctant to set up shop in the rural areas where plenty of land is available? It is nightmare for any small or medium scale industry to operate in rural areas because of gross infrastructure inadequacy even if adequate resources like money and technology are available. The people living in rural areas are increasingly gravitating towards towns and cities, also because of this reason. Rural development seems to be synonymous with "allocation" of funds by the government with hardly any follow up efforts to ensure the money is well used for the purpose it is budgeted! Most Universities where knowledge is generated are located near urban centers and development of healthy industry is closely linked to knowledge development and access. It is here Technology Park concept can remedy the situation some what. An expose on the issue has recently come, of all the places in the world, from Pakistan which provides some sense.

"One of the essential ingredients to establish technology parks is to get tax incentives by the government as in general research process is slow, time consuming and expensive besides the fact that it cannot necessarily come up with 100% result every time. Middle East Technical University (METU) alumni and expatriate Arshad Jameel shared this view during an exclusive interview with The News . He, along with the Turkish delegates, was on a visit to Pakistan to find out possibilities for establishing technology parks in Pakistan. According to Arshad Jameel, the concept and desire to establish technology parks are there in Pakistan but there are certain things that are required to be there which include sufficient academia and senior PhD students. Actually the purpose of technology parks is to convert pure academic research into pure development research for which there will be need of entrepreneurs who are ready to invest besides availability of physical facilities, he said. He said that in the context of Pakistan, the model of technology parks would be different from the traditional model of other countries which is purely high-tech to tackle with some of the serious problems are faced in Pakistan. The establishment of technology parks in Pakistan can help in solving some of the serious problems including water, energy, industry and food as well as building materials, he said".

it was in early seventies of last Millennium some efforts were made in India to establish a Food Industrial Estate in Mysore in India under the aegis of CFTRI, the fountain head of knowledge on food processing at that time and predictability that effort collapsed in absence of support from the local government which thought allotting land is all it required for the industry to flourish. After setting up the SPV in the form of MoFPI by the GOI in nineteen nineties Food Parks both in the private and public sectors were promoted in a big way with financial incentives and the purpose was same viz providing facilities to the entrepreneurs without any hassle. If results of this program is evaluated, one cannot say that the project was a run away success and logically it could not be as the mindset of the Babus that run such programs always cause delay and prevarication, the very antitheses of efficiency and success! If really the rulers of this country had any imagination or vision thousands of villages that suffer indignities and misery would have become India's modern temples of agro-industries wiping out the poverty from the land long ago! The urbanization frenzy created by successive rulers at Delhi has made land near urban areas ultra expensive while rural land does not fetch a fraction of that price! The suggestions made by the Pakistani scholar are eminently applicable to India also and hundreds of Technology Parks funded by the government in many village areas with strong agriculture base and linked to Universities can transform the face of this country beyond recognition, provided they are thoughtfully designed and efficiently implemented.

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

"PREDICT" SYSTEM FOR PREDICTING SUSPECTED FOODS-THE US SYSTEM

In to day's world no country is 100% self reliant as far as food is concerned which necessitates imports from where ever available. These imported foods are supposed to conform to the standards of quality and safety imposed by the importing countries and when rejected the consignments are either destroyed or sent back. If a country is large like the US the logistics of import inspection and assessment can be quite daunting. While random sampling or picking samples based on statistical analysis is common, the US has adopted a model for picking up samples for detailed assessment called PREDICT. Here are some of the features of the system

Which shipments get inspected is increasingly determined by a new computer system called PREDICT, or Predictive Risk-based Evaluation for Dynamic Import Compliance Targeting, that is now used at 70 percent of U.S. import operations at land, sea and air ports. It analyzes information such as a manufacturer's history with the agency, lab test results and even current weather patterns, assigning a risk-based score to each shipment to direct investigators toward the riskiest ones. After a shipment is flagged, it's up to a person to investigate further. Investigators give top priority to the items with the highest scores and work their way down — at least, to the point they can with limited staff. This summer, the FDA gave News21 unusual behind-the-scenes access at its largest operating district to show the ways in which front-line operations attempt to keep unsafe food from reaching American supermarket shelves and dinner tables. Sensory tests- "The Nose" prepares to sniff his way down a mahi-mahi fillet. Steve Angold works out of a narrow lab at the FDA's new $40 million testing facility in Irvine, Calif. He is one of about 25 FDA specialists across the country who rely on their senses of sight, touch, taste and smell to detect decomposition or filth in food products.

What is surprising is that human intervention is still necessary in spotting "bad" shipments and confirmation arrives after laboratory analyses. Imagine the logistical nightmare involved in clearing 24 million shipments annually and though actual testing takes place with less than 2% of the consignments arriving at various ports, the system seems to be working satisfactorily. Critics point out that this proportion is too small and there is potential danger in future if the testing regime is not expanded. Fact still remains that almost all food related poisoning episodes occurring in that country originated from within its own boundaries, not from foreign shipments. One has to appreciate that besides the facilities abroad, from where foods are imported, are inspected frequently by the US officials and those not coming up to the standard are blacklisted on a regular basis. Added to this, all food exporting countries have their own food safety monitoring system ensuring that there is double safety as far as imported foods are concerned.

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

THE "GM" HONEY-REALLY?

With demand rising because of its supposed health benefits, Honey is an important commodity traded across the world. Though its chemical composition is almost similar to sucrose, the sweetness comes from Fructose and Glucose occurring in 38.5:31.0 ratio. However its value as a health promoting food is attributed to two anti-bacterial substances, Hydrogen Peroxide generating enzyme system and Methyl Glyoxal, besides presence of antioxidants such as Ascorbic acid, Chrysin, Pinobankskin, and Pinocembrin. The old Ayurvedic medicinal system of India has accorded very high place for Honey in its treatment regimes of a number of human ailments. Quality of honey depends more or less on the nature of nectar collected by the Bees and can vary significantly. Honey can even be poisonous if the Bees collect nectar from poisonous flowers. It is in this context that one has to view the recent controversy in Europe, surrounding Honey products generated from flowers of GM plants. Here is a take on this issue.

"Honey that contains traces of pollen from genetically modified crops needs special authorization before it can be sold in Europe, the European Union's top court said Tuesday, in a judgment that could have widespread consequences on the bloc's policy on genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. The ruling from the European Court of Justice came after several Bavarian beekeepers demanded compensation from their government for honey and food supplements that contained traces of pollen from genetically modified maize.The beekeepers had their hives close to fields where the Bavarian government was growing Monsanto's MON 810 maize for research purposes. The EU has strict guidelines on authorizing and informing consumers about foods containing GMOs – a policy that has caused problems for producers of genetically modified seeds such as U.S.-based Monsanto Co. that are used to much laxer rules in other parts of the world".

China, Argentina, Turkey, USA, Ukraine and Mexico are the top producers of Honey and the entire world depends on imports from these countries for meeting the demand for this product. Of course there are internationally agreed standards for Honey and the world trade is governed by these prerequisites. The Chinese supply of Honey made by Bees treated with antibiotics through third world countries to Europe and the US was in the eye of a storm last year, though the culprit country got away with its brazen illegal activities without receiving a rap on its knuckles, probably because of its economic clout! The latest controversy about GMO tainting of Honey is not going to die down soon because of the tight regulations in EU requiring labeling of GM foods. It is true that contamination of Honey with GM substances was an unwitting act beyond the control of the Beekeepers who are located near fields where GM crops are cultivated. Real possibility of such accidental contamination was responsible for the campaign against GM foods by the antagonists and till such times the GM foods are universally accepted or they are compulsorily mandated to declare on the label, it is not correct to allow cultivation of GM crops.

V.H.POTTY

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AFTER THE SODA TAX, HERE COMES FAT TAX!

Soft drinks containing only sugar and nothing else that can be considered as nutrients are often referred to as Soda and high consumption of these beverages has been implicated in diseases like obesity and other health disorders. Also on the dock is HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) which is the most widely used sweetener in such beverages and HFCS is being blamed for its fat-accumulating role in human beings though with shaky evidence. Some countries have already taxed these drinks higher to make them costlier and reduce consumption. Many countries are considering to do so after a consensus had emerged at the recent UN meeting regarding the desirability such fiscal policies. Now comes the news that Denmark is imposing a "fat tax" that hopefully curtail consumption of high fat containing foods. It will be interesting to see how this experiment will work out in reversing the current trend of high consumption of such foods.

"The tax -- 16 Danish kroner per kilogram of saturated fat in a food – works out to about $6.27 per pound of saturated fat. It hits all foods with a saturated fat content above 2.3 percent. Danes reportedly began hoarding butter and other fatty products before the new regulation kicked in. Denmark's tax is the first of its kind in other ways. "This is a major development for two reasons: It's an entire country, and they've taken on a particular part of the food supply," says Kelly Brownell, director of Yale's Rudd Center on Food Policy, who is widely credited with introducing the idea of a soda tax in the 1990s. The Danish government implemented the tax because it wanted Danes, who lag behind European life expectancy numbers, to get healthier. Will they? The research on "fat taxes" is sparse, but there's good reason to be skeptical about the potential public health gains. One thing we do know about food taxes is that they have to be really high to change behavior. Brownell and Tom Frieden, now director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, wrote in a 2009 New England Journal of Medicine article that the 5 percent taxes on unhealthy foods that states tend to pass just don't cut it. Brownell's research has found it takes a 1-cent-per-ounce tax to change behavior; anything lower, will do great at bringing in revenue but likely won't lower soda consumption".

Though marketing pundits aver that higher the cost of a product lower will be the demand for a particular product, there is no unanimity as to how much higher should the price be to cause a definite decline in consumption. This is where in-depth studies are required to understand the consumer behavior and only such clear understanding will enable policy makers to evolve tax guidelines that can make an impact. Danish law makers have clearly targeted the saturated fats which are supposed to cause maximum damage but what about foods that contain fats with short chain fatty acids, not considered harmful? How can one treat saturated long chain fatty acids like stearic acid same as short chain acids like lauric acid which has many beneficial effects on human body? Probably there must be a cut of level and only fats containing saturated acids with chain length more than 14 carbons should come under the purview of differential taxation regime.

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

POST HARVEST FOOD LOSSES-ANOTHER "ESTIMATE"!

Figures for food losses in the country have been often used by many to push their own agenda. Research scientists very frequently highlight food losses to justify their research projects while government use the same figures to push for increased budgetary allocation for preventing the very losses it is supposed to prevent! Latest in this "game of numbers" comes from an "institute" whose credentials are not well known and its scientists put the annual loss figure at Rs 44000 crore! One difference between earlier "estimates" and the present one is that the latest figure is projected in terms of cost without indicating the quantum lost or percentage of production. Also not clear is whether this estimates refer to only horticulture produce or to the entire chain of foods produced and processed in the country. What is amusing to see is that the MoFPI of GOI has swallowed this figure as Gospel truth and promptly asked for a 4-fold increase in allocation of funds for its 12th 5-year Plan programs! It is to be remembered that losses do occur at various stages of the food chain starting from the field to the consumer table and estimating losses at each stage, especially in a country like India is not an easy task. To believe that an institute with its limited resources and lack of personnel with right expertise and experience can do justice to this topic, may be asking too much. Nonetheless one can get a better perspective by reading the report by this academic body.

The Food Processing Ministry has sought a nearly four-fold hike in its 12th Five-Year Plan outlay to Rs 15,000 crore to curb wastage of fruits and vegetables worth Rs 44,000 crore every year, which is more than the budgetary allocation for the MGNREGA scheme in FY'12. "The amount of food wasted every year due to lower food processing potential is Rs 44,000 crore, which is more than the budgetary allocation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) of Rs 40,000 crore for the 2011-12 fiscal," a senior official with the Ministry of Food Processing Industries said. The Ministry has sought the allocation of Rs 15,000 crore from the Planning Commission for running different progressive schemes in the 12th Five-Year plan against Rs 4,000 crore in the current Plan (2007-12), the official added. The proposal was submitted in mid-September. The official noted that the fund hike has been demanded to strengthen infrastructure and cut down the level of food wastage. The latest yearly food wastage figure of Rs 44,000 crore that came in April 2010, is based on a random survey conducted by CIPHET in 106 districts across the country, he added. The Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology (CIPHET) was established in 1989 at the Punjab Agriculture University campus in Ludhiana, Punjab, as a nodal institute to undertake research in the area of post-harvest engineering and technology appropriate to agricultural production catchment and agro-industries.

What is intriguing is the basis on which MoFPI had sought such huge funds while its capacity to conceive programs and spend the budget is some what limited, if judged by past track records. There is this bland declaration that the funds would be utilized to "strengthen" infrastructure which could cut down losses. The activity that encompasses harvesting, post-harvest handling, storage, processing, distribution and consumer purchase is a complex one involving millions of players and unless the whole system is modernized there is not much GOI can do to cut down losses. For example take a simple case of controlling rodents in fields where, in spite, of enormous attempts of the past, the rodent population has been able to outsmart the farmers and field losses continue unhindered to this day! Another example is grain storage infrastructure for supplying food grains under PDS and though millions of tons of grains storage infrastructure is available in the country, supply of rotten grains continues through the PDS under the very nose of the government! Under a regime of corruption, political chicanery and babu-criminal nexus, it is well known that the country loses food grains worth Rs 40000 crore per year through pilferage and misappropriation of PDS grains. Is there a solution to this problem? No one knows. The losses were there 5 decades ago, losses are there to day and losses will continue unabated in future also, even if MoFPI receives the increased funding under the next Plan!

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