The "Authority"-Raking up old "mantra" with no seriousness will not solve food safety mess!

How can one help from "throwing up" reading the latest "blah, blah" put out by the FSSAI? Till some lowly food inspector in a remote area in UP raised the safety of the noodles made by a  global manufacturer, reams of paper, number of days of telecasting time have been wasted condemning the MNC for its deliberate strategy to poison the Indian citizens by adding tons of MSG and Lead in their products! Now that FSSAI has "sent" a Rs 1700 cr spending plan to the government, one naturally must ask the logical question as to what this Authority has been doing so far except more and more bureaucratization of its functions, strengthening its own pleasure deriving office infrastructure and disbursing perks to its "committee" members. One of the four areas it wants to increase is its manpower, (read, more bureaucrats) while the existing staff itself is practically doing nothing leaving inspection, sampling, testing and prosecution to the terribly understaffed and poorly paid state machinery! Do they have no shame left, being responsible for the mess we see to day in this country vis-a-vis food quality and safety? Poor Prime Minister! It is a tragedy that he is depending on these "babus" to realize his dream of "make in India" a reality in the food sector also. Read below to realize what dreams FSSAI has through its latest mantra which is nothing but the proverbial "old wine in new bottle"!

"Days after the recall of Maggi Noodles from India highlighted glaring gaps in the food regulatory structure, the Health Ministry has sent a Rs 1,700-crore proposal to the Union Cabinet for a sweeping revamp. According to sources, the proposal focuses on four main areas: strengthening the state inspection apparatus, bolstering the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India's manpower, giving the FSSAI more powers and ensuring that the authority has access to state-of-the-art technology. "We have sent a proposal to the Cabinet to increase FSSAI's manpower, both technical and field staff, and make sure that it has at its disposal the latest technologies in its laboratories," a senior official in the Health Ministry told The Indian Express. "Currently, it (FSSAI) is a rudimentary set-up. In fact, 16 states do not even have a food testing laboratory. The actual increase in staff strength will have to be worked out once the proposal is passed because revamping the state food safety set-up is a very important part of the plan," he added. An investigation by The Indian Express this month had revealed a number of shortcomings in the country's food safety apparatus — at the Centre and states — including lack of staff, technology and accreditation for most state labs. Last week, Tata Starbucks said it was "suspending" some ingredients from its outlets after that products used by the company and a number of other top brands, such as Kellogg's and Venky's, figured on a list of around 500 rejected products prepared by the national food safety regulator. The official, meanwhile, stressed that that revamp was not connected to the recent controversy surrounding the recall of Nestle's popular instant noodles after lab tests showed unsafe levels of lead in some samples. "The restructuring of FSSAI has been in the works for long. It has got nothing to do with the recall of Maggi Noodles or whatever has happened since then," the official said. Sources said that the FSSAI currently has its own staff deployed in only five cities across the country, leaving the checking of imported foods mostly to state authorities and, at times, even to Customs officials. Sources said the proposal would pump Rs 1,700 crore into the food safety administration apparatus over the next few years. "A very important part of the plan is to hire more experts. At present, scientific work is mostly outsourced to committees formed for the purpose. For example, FSSAI has formed an 11-member expert committee to look at salt, sugar and fat content of Indian foods and recommend acceptable levels," sources in the ministry said."

While this Blogger is not holding any brief for noodles, the way the manufacturer was treated shabbily and recklessly by the governments at the state and central levels, by motivated "revelations", damaging statements and serious insinuations will send "shivers" through the global investors even if they have any remote plans to invest in Indian food sector! The belated discovery that noodles is a junk food, soft drinks are poisons and many products from big industrial players are not healthy can only reflect on the poor planning and governance in this country. Is India becoming a "banana republic" as being perceived by some or is it a "macho" image the present government is trying to send across? Whatever it is, enough damage has been done to the reputation of the country and it is going to take lot a of time to "repair" this self inflicted wound and restore our credibility across the globe.

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

THE INFAMOUS PULSE "SCAM" OF ORISSA-SHOW NO MERCY TO THE CULPRITS

That the massive feeding programs which are going in this country for quite some time is a "golden goose" for at least some people like the private manufacturers and the controlling "babudom" , is well known. Why the governments at the center and states close their eyes to such blatant corruption is also known, the main reason being the unholy nexus between the politicians in power aided by the babus and the manufacturers with no conscience regarding the harm they are doing through their devious practices. Under the guise of economic liberalization, governments in almost all states have roped in private manufacturers for supply of nutritious food to beneficiaries under various state sponsored feeding programs, most of them being children. On the other hand they have systematically sidelined their own specially set up organizations, in many cases forcing them to wind up in absence of adequate funds. The consequences are there for every body to see! If an estimate is to be made regarding the looting of public funds through such apparently "noble' schemes, it could run into thousands of crore of rupees! A recent report from Orissa typically exemplify this national malaise.

"The Orissa Vigilance Directorate has submitted a status report in the High Court on its probe into the multi-crore pulses scam, saying pecuniary advantages to the tune of nearly Rs 20 crore were made by government officials by showing undue favours to traders. According to the Directorate, pecuniary advantages to the tune of Rs 19.62 crore were made by certain government officials by showing undue favour to private suppliers and traders in the districts of Balasore, Jajpur, Ganjam, Mayurbhanj and Deogarh. As a result, poor and substandard quality of pulses were supplied during implementation of feeding schemes in 2009-10 and 2010-11, said the report submitted yesterday. School students, children, pregnant and nursing mothers coming under midday meal (MDM), supplementary nutrition programme (SNP) and emergency food programme (EFP) in these districts were provided with mould-grown and substandard pulses, it said. The report further said that at least one criminal case each was registered in all these districts in which a total of 34 accused persons were arrested ever since the vigilance registered cases over the scam earlier this year. "All the arrested persons were, however, released on bail as per orders of the High Court, the report said. The investigating officers have also examined at least 87 witnesses and seized a total of 152 documents from all the five districts, the report said, adding further investigation in the cases are on. Detailing the findings from each of these districts, the report said samples collected from different feeding centres were sent for laboratory tests to Bhubaneswar-based State Drugs Management Unit. "In most of the samples, the analytical reports said the pulses did not confirm to the prescribed standard and were highly infected and of poor quality due to presence of insects in it," the report said. The irregularities in supply of pulses was brought to the notice of vigilance sleuths by Bari MLA Debashis Naik last year. The then Women and Child Development minister Pramila Mallick resigned over the scam, the state government took action against three district (Deogarh, Mayurbhanj and Balasore) collectors".

Is it not a sorry state of affairs in this country that despite tons of evidence regarding the corruption being indulged in by "the high and the mighty", these criminals roam around the country in style with least impunity, regret and remorse? They can be rightly called the "Merchants of Death", as these unsafe foods can cause health damage and eventual mortality in the long run. Will the curse and desperation of millions of kids, who are deprived of their legitimate share of food provided from public funds, ever spare these culprits in the long run? May be the citizens in this country are no where to go except the God!

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

THE "OVER JEALOUS" BABUS-GUAR GUM EXPORT TO BE HIT

It is true that in Europe many member countries are scared by the increasing incidences of food safety breeches and the consumers want the EU to take more stringent preventive steps to arrest the trend. Against such a background they cannot be blamed if the safety bar is raised continuously which may not be liked by the countries exporting foods to this region. Latest instance is regarding the pesticide residue in Guar Gum, a food additive used mainly for viscosity modification and improvement textural properties in processed foods and beverages. Already there is a scare regarding the presence of Dioxin in imported foods and now comes the news that pesticide residues are also found in imported Guar Gum products beyond permissible limits. However, over reaction by exporting countries can only harm their exports as being demonstrated by the recent stipulation by Indian authorities not to allow export of Guar Gum unless it is free from pesticide residues like PCP. What is the provocation for this new stipulation is not clear. Is it based on technical evaluation of the situation or just an arbitrary decision? If the importing countries are making such demands, is it not incumbent on the part of GOI to negotiate and convince the buyers regarding the technical constraints in reducing PCP to zero level? is this ban based on international protocols or just a precaution? Industry has a right to know about it in a more transparent manner.

"Indian food-grade guar gum export to the European Union is set to take a hit as the commerce ministry has directed exporters that there should be absolutely no pesticide content in the product. Till now, the commerce ministry had allowed a 0.01 milligram of pentacholorophenols (PCP), a pesticide, in a kg of food-grade guar gum. The move comes at a time when the industry is flooded with orders from EU countries. "In FY10-11, the guar gum industry earned an export revenue of Rs 2,000 crore. And this year, the export trend is extremely positive. This recent notification (notification no. 47 RE-2010 dated May 18, 2011) has created a lot of confusion among exporters. We have taken up the matter with Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). We are hoping that things will be sorted out this week," said Debjani Roy, executive director of Shefexil. In fact, containers are piling up at Kandla port which is worrying guar gum exporters. The guar gum industry in India has been following the quality requirements as laid down by the EU commission directive (No 258/2010 of March 25, 2010) and DGFT notification (No 50/2009-14 dated July 6, 2010). "There has been no case of dispute with the PCP presence limit of below 0.01mg/kg of guar gum," Roy added".

If the importers want zero limit for PCP, they must pay for it and GOI must help the industry to strike amicable agreements with the buyers in stead of holding up export consignments without giving clearance. Pesticide residues in foods are attracting igreater attention all over the world and their presence in foods is not tolerated by consumers with increasing sensitivity to this issue due to fear of health risks associated with them. If pesticide use is inevitable there has to be a cost-benefit-risk assessment and only based on such evaluation decision regarding the residue level can be taken. Commerce Ministry of GOI must reconsider its decision based on technical considerations rather than pious attitude and "holier than thou" approach!

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