INDIAN ETHNIC FOODS IN AMERICA-QUALITY RECOGNITION

This Blogger has been crying hoarse for the last 3 decades to no avail regarding the neglect of Indian ethnic foods by food scientists in the universities as well as specialized food research institutions. The yeoman work carried out during fifties and sixties of the last millennium on products like Idli, Vada, Dosa etc to develop ready mixes served admirably to popularize these foods with younger generation and nuclear families but further progress was not perceptible as most younger scientists considered working on western foods like biscuits and others more appealing to further their career. If to day only Gulab Jamun and Rosagolla are available with long shelf life while all others are perishable within a matter of few days, no one is to be blamed but the native scientists for their total neglect of these products. Recent reports of CFTRI Mysore developing suitable packaging technology to preserve products like Laddu, Bombay Halwa, Carrot Halwa, Doodhi Halwa etc are most welcome, hopefully heralding a renaissance of this sector. It is highly satisfying to see a foreign company based in the US getting international quality certification for about 3 dozen products based on Indian cuisines which are popular in that country. Here are details about the accomplishments of this pioneer.  

"Deep Foods, the leading producer of restaurant quality frozen Indian cuisine, announces its vegetarian and vegan qualification by the prestigious American Vegetarian Association™ (AVA). As part of their commitment to producing only the highest quality Indian cuisine, Deep Foods is pleased to take this next step forward in achieving nationally recognized vegetarian and vegan food certification.
The AVA was created to promote the interests and concerns of individuals and organizations involved in the preservation, propagation, and distribution of vegetarian ideas and products. The primary goal of the AVA is to provide a widely recognized certification program that will enable vegetarian-minded people to make accurate food choices, being certain they can be confident in their selection and that of the manufacturer's claims. "As consumers become more and more health conscious, it's our responsibility to offer a diverse range of restaurant quality Indian cuisine that is 100% safe for vegetarians and vegans, and for those with allergies," said Mike Ryan, VP Marketing, Deep Foods. "For that reason, Deep Foods is proud to manufacture products that are AVA vegetarian and vegan certified." The AVA-certified logo will be clearly displayed on a total of 35 Deep Foods products, denoting either vegetarian or vegan certification. The Deep Foods product line offers 19 vegetarian and 16 vegan options".

Food manufacturers in the US are fortunate in that they have well managed Indian stores, spread across that country with frozen and refrigerated display facilities with high capacity while the cold chain infrastructure is one of the best in the world. It is amazing that there are at least 100 Indian origin processed products made in or imported into the country which can vet the appetite of any food connoisseur

while in its land of origin one cannot even see 10% of these items! These products represent almost all major ethnic segments in the south as well as north providing a wide choice for US settled families. With such certification facilities available at least for vegetarian items, the clientele for Indian foods can be expected to expand very significantly among local population.            

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

SET BACK FOR INDIAN ETHNIC FOODS-CANADIAN EPISODE

Graduating from a small business into the big league is not an easy task and no lesson seems to have been learned by those aspiring to be big about the increased responsibility that comes along. The recent set back suffered by one of the ethnic food manufacturers in India being hauled up for safety violations in Canada must provide a warning about the dangers in lowering the guard by the manufacturers in conforming to the food laws of the country where their products are marketed. This particular case is relatively minor as the manufacturer was guilty of using an allergic chemical ingredient without declaring its presence on the label but it still can cause lot of damage to the image of the brand as well as that of the country.

"In what could be considered a setback to the Rs 500-crore Haldiram's Food International Limited, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency(CFIA) has warned its country's citizens against consuming the city-based group's petha sweet as the product contained sulphites, which are sulphur-containing compounds used as additives to preserve food and beverages, but which, in rare cases, can also lead to life-threatening reactions in allergic or sensitive persons. According to sources, the Toronto-based importer of Haldiram's Petha - Quality Natural Food - has voluntarily recalled the product from the markets. The importer has also cautioned Canadian citizens, especially those suffering from allergies, not to consume the sweet as it may lead to life-threatening reaction. This sweet, believed to have originated from Agra and sold across the world including Canada, contains sulphites as one of the ingredients whose quantity has not been declared on the packaging. Director of Haldiram's group on Nagpur Sushil Agrawal admitted that they had received a message to this effect from their Canada-based dealer and they would soon be initializing steps to make necessary changes. The company has recalled about 20 cartons costing about $300 (Rs 15,000). "It's happening with us for the first time but it's not a serious matter. They just wanted to have percentage of Sulphite contents printed on the packets. We anyhow mention use of Sulphite as one of the ingredients but haven't specified its percentage in parts per million (PPM). Now, we will paste new stickers having mention of Sulphite percentage in PPM on the packets," he clarified".

Petha, generally made from ash gourd traditionally in some regions of Uttar Pradesh in India by micro enterprises or home based small units, many of which lack adequate infrastructure for maintaining uniform quality and ensuring consistent safety assurance. It is for the marketing organizations who undertake the responsibility of exporting these products to provide at least the necessary technical inputs to generate confidence amongst the buyers. India food industry is known to ignore the importance of technical personnel in quality and safety assurance, often employing cheap and under qualified workers to man their operations. The consequences of such neglect, what ever be the reason, can be catastrophic in the long run and the "writing on the wall" is clear-"change for the good or perish"!

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