THE SABARIMALA PRASADAM-NEW FOCUS FOR ENSURING QUALITY AND SAFETY

The two worship places  in Southern India famed for their prasadam are Tirupati-Tirumala Balaji Temple in A.P and Sabarimala Ayyappan Temple in Kerala where millions of devotees visit on pilgrimage and crowd controlling is a logistical nightmare of gigantic dimension. Still during the last so many years no major mishaps have been reported jeopardizing the lives of the pilgrims. There may be issues concerning cleanliness, hygiene, filthiness  and sanitation which continue to persist in spite of frequent claims of satisfactory remedial measures. Even to day Sabarimala is a veritable dumping place for garbage, plastic pieces, human excreta, rotting food left overs that make the environment unbearable for most of the visitors though as devoted Hindus they suffer such discomforts in silence. As for prasadam, Tirupati laddu and Aravana Payasam and Neyyappam of Sabarimala are world famous with each devotee carrying them to share the blessings with relatives and friends back home. But the "11th hour firefighting syndrome" is characteristic of Sabarimala where food safety officials are seen active only during certain festival seasons. Though the prasadam is prepared near the vicinity of the Temple where modern gadgets are supposed to be deployed, the products suffer from severe scientific limitations including limited process standardization, vague quality specifications, ill trained working personnel, inadequate sanitation and hygiene and lack of accountability. Here is a report emanating from Kerala which says that the Food Commissionerate finds it difficult to manage the food quality and safety due to lack of personnel to carry out sampling and analysis keeping in pace with the production. 

"With the High Court mandating food safety certification for 'aravana' and 'prasadam' sold at Sabarimala,  the pilgrimage season will be a real test for the food safety commissionerate. According to authorities, the food safety officers from every district will be randomly appointed at Sabarimala to ensure round-the-clock services. Commissioner of Food Safety T.V. Anupama told DC that Pathanamthitta district would be given top priority during the pilgrimage season.  The commissionerate is planning to appoint special officers at Pampa, Sannidanam and Erumeli to ensure quality of food and 'prasadam' being served to the pilgrims. The department will recruit three analysts in the lab to check the quality of jaggery coming from Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. "Around 40 lakh tonnes of  jaggery is required every season and we have to be on our toes to check the samples from each truck arriving from other states. Either day or night we must scrutinise the loads to ensure that there is no adulteration. It's a tough  task," said a top official. Two of the total six analysts will be appointed in the lab at the shrine to check the quality of 'aravana' and four analysts will scrutinise the raw materials being transported to the shrine for 'prasadam' preparation. "Starting from November for a period of three months, the focus of the department will be on Pathanamthitta and Kottayam – where lakhs of Sabarimala pilgrims arrive," said the official. Sources say that the pilgrimage season will slow down the normal activities of the commissionerate as the full focus would be only on the two districts. "We are carrying out intensive drives every month throughout the state and the coming months we will not be able to carry out the drives. Staff crunch is a severe issue and around 80 posts are vacant," added the official."

It is most unfortunate that the responsible Food Commissioner is on record admitting that due to lack of personnel, the task is difficult though maximum efforts would be made to lessen the burden of unsafe and low quality foods on the pilgrims! What type of assurance is this from a senior representative of the mighty FSSAI in Delhi and how can the pilgrims place any confidence on them? It is the duty of FSSAI to ensure that adequate trained inspecting officials and analytical chemists are positioned on a priority basis in places like Sabarimala and Tirupati where lives of thousands of pilgrims are put in jeopardy every day. Even after three decades since the premier food institute in the country offered to undertake standardization and quality/safety related work, nothing much has been done and products like Aravana Payasam and Neyyappam remain almost inedible from the point of view of eating quality. Though there were some court strictures on this issue, the die-hard bureaucrats know well how to circumvent them with impunity! A time has come for the pilgrims to collectively put pressure on these politicians and bureaucrats to mend their ways and make the Shrine a lovable place to visit and enjoy the presence of the divine Ayyappa without any hassles and fears for their life..

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

FIRMAN ON CANTEEN FOODS-AN UPSIDE DOWN PRIORITY

A recent firman from GOI directing the canteens serving government employees all over the country to improve the quality of food served at these joints can at best evoke laughter. If issuing circulars can solve problems, every ministry in GOI can issue thousands of circulars every day on every conceivable area of government activities. What is intriguing is the direction to use "branded" ingredients for preparing foods in these cafeteria with the pompous assumption that such a step would improve quality. Knowing well as to how government works, the procurement program, based on lowest quotation , cannot be expected to improve the situation much, especially considering that more than 99.5% of these canteens are under government management. What is not clear is what constitutes a brand? By just packing in a printed sealed plastic pouch and giving a name to the product, can it be considered a branded product? Or does the GOI consider Supermarket goods only as branded? Such orders made in haste can be expected to lead to further under hand dealings when established specifications are replaced by branded materials of unknown quality.

"The ministry of personnel, public grievances and pension has issued a circular to all government canteens asking them to use branded ingredients while preparing food. The circular was issued after babus complained of the food quality in government-run canteens being far more inferior in quality as compared to that being prepared in private canteens. Government canteens must, from now on, display the names of ingredients to their patrons as well, the circular said. The deficiencies came to light after the department of canteens conducted a spot check. "Around eight bureaucrats from different ministries and departments came in person and complained about the quality of food being prepared in their department canteens… We then sent our team to inspect the situation. Conclusively we found that the quality of food being served in government canteens was not up to the mark," Rajiv Manjhi, director of canteens, told DNA. Government canteens have been asked to use branded ingredients to prepare food. "But while implementing this order, the prices of meals may also increase," Manjhi said. The ministry of personnel, public grievances and pension runs 1,351 canteens across the country of which six are private canteens".

Already the government employees are known for their lackadaisical approach to work and lowest productivity in the country. No body is grudging the right of employees to safe foods and there are established procedures for procuring cooking materials from the open sources in the market. When public-private partnership is being widely talked about, it is for the government to pass on the catering responsibility to private sector with some inclusive conditions. In a country where government employment is very much sought after and the government employees on the pay roll are at least 50% more than actually required, making the canteen workers government employees does not make any sense.

V.H.POTTY

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

THE SKILLET STORY-SCIENCE OR FICTION?

Old timers will always swear by what all the practices they were used to during their life time and one of the reasons is their discomfort with the fast changing science that is making inroads into practically every aspect of modern life. A typical example is use of modern cooking utensils. The ancient iron skillet, still being used in many rural households in India for making some of the popular shallow fried foods, is claimed to give a product much superior to those made in stainless steel or Teflon coated pans. If this is so why the younger generation house wives shun them and opt for the modern versions? Have they lost their culinary skills and sensory faculties, not to appreciate the old taste and flavor of products made in iron skillet? Or could it be due to non-availability of utensils like iron skillet in the market? This transformation is not confined to India alone is borne out by the report quoted here under.

"Old-time cooks swear by the mysterious power of these antique-like cooking wares to not just to cook, but to impart a special tasty quality that can only be achieved by the heat distribution properties of this common metal.Of course, most have to be seasoned, cared for properly and should not be hustled through the dishwasher".

Scientifically it may be difficult to prove that products prepared in iron skillet is superior to those made in stainless steel or Teflon coated pans. This is some what similar to the claim made by many people that water heated with traditional hearths using firewood is better than that made in electric geyser for a hot water bath. To obtain validity for such "age old" practices, scientific research needs to be carried out and unfortunately there may not be any takers amongst scientists in India to take up such work, considered non-glamorous by to day's standards!

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

QUALITY OF PERISHABLES-A NEW ASSESSMENT SYSTEM

Buying fresh produce from the retailing stores can be a hazardous job and high wastage is routinely experienced between bringing them home and consumption. Many housewives routinely check the quality by smell or touch, though she can go wrong many times. With produce prices touching three figures in the case of many fruits, Indian consumer can hardly afford any post-purchase waste. Big global players like Dole or Chiquita have the necessary wherewithal to maintain prime quality of their products with well streamlined technologies, experienced personnel and high quality infrastructure. But there are many middle level retailers with hardly any choice but to absorb the wastage and consequently the economic losses due to their inadequately equipped quality assessment system. Development of a sensitive sensor to evaluate the eatability or otherwise of fresh produce, probably will help these retailers to manage their back shop operations more reliably.

"Researchers in Germany have come up with a new system based on metal-oxide sensor technology, that could check food quality and safety in a cost-effective way. The researchers from the Fraunhofer Institutes for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME) and for Physical Measurement Techniques (IPM), claim that their system can check the emission of gases from food on the spot, without waiting for lab results. It can also quantify the time for the ripening of fruits and vegetables to their readiness for consumption at homes".

Most attractive feature of the device is its ability to quantify the time required for the produce to attain optimum eating quality and consequently plan better to put the right produce at the right time on the shop shelves for sale. Though the device could be expensive, being a one time investment, it may be worth the money spent for procuring it in terms of reduced wastage on the market shelves. This in turn will boost the confidence of the consumer on the retailer to sell safe and good quality foods.

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