Artificial ripening a bigger menace than thought

Vendors using carbide powder to ensure quick ripening of mangoes at the Kothapet fruit market in Hyderabad.

Of the 140 fruit samples from across the State between last August and February this year, 72 have been found unsafe for consumption

In a sustained campaign propelled by judicial monitoring, food safety authorities are discovering that the use of fruit ripening agents is more widespread than what was thought earlier.

Ever since a petition was filed last year in the High Court expressing safety concerns over quality of fruits sold in the State, food inspectors in all districts have conducted raids and collected samples to ascertain the extent of practice. The exercise has overturned existing notions that ripening agents are used mostly for mangoes and apples.

Of the 140 fruit samples collected between last August and February 18 this year from across the State, 72 have been found unsafe for consumption. Many of the samples include banana, pineapple, sapota, grapes, and even strawberries.

Ethephon and calcium carbide are the usual culprits, food safety experts say. A plant growth regulator, ethephon is allowed for use before harvest in tomatoes and mangoes, but State Food Laboratory found that it is being used on fruits like banana to hasten ripening.

From Hyderabad alone, about 50 samples were collected from February 18 through February 20. While results of the entire batch of samples are yet to be made available to the Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM), at least three samples were found to be ‘unsafe’.

IPM, in tandem with municipal agencies, is overseeing the exercise in the State. Samples were also collected from Warangal and Nizamabad this week. Officials expect many of the other recently collected samples to also fail the test.

While the exercise of collection and testing has uncovered the extent of the problem, citizens wonder if it is adequate.

“The consumer movement should be strengthened by the government through involvement of consumers. Additionally, the execution of the law should be non-compromising,” says V.B.J. Chelikani Rao of United Federation for Residential Welfare Societies.

Officials say the completion of legal process from the start of prosecution proceedings can take a very long time. The GHMC is fighting adulteration battles in local courts that pertain to as far back as 1999.

The public glare of the problem and court monitoring has fuelled some action, including shutting down of an ethephon ripening unit in Moosapet earlier this month.

Tips for buying fruits

• Chemical testing is the surest way to detect use of ripening agents and adulteration, say experts 
• Check for waxy deposits by scratching an apple’s surface. Shiny apples are usually culprits. 
• A banana has been artificially ripened if the outer peel is yellow, but still raw on the inside 
• White deposits on fruits indicate use of calcium carbide 
• If fruits ripen rapidly in just a day or two, chemicals are most likely at work.

We cook food in state of the art kitchens: ISKON on Palghar case

Mumbai : ISKCON on Sunday explained their stand with regard to the incident in Palghar school in which over 100 students were hospitalized after consuming the mid-day meal. In a press release it said that it cooks food in state of the art kitchens certified for ISO 22000 to ensure hygiene. The cooking is done using modern equipment and processes, it added.

All our utensils are made from Food Grade Stainless Steel, said the release. ISKCON is certified by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India for following norms of procurement, processing, packaging and dispatching. On the day the fateful incident took place, the organization’s supervisor had tasted the food as per protocol, the organization said. The meals are generally dispatched in sealed insulated stainless steel containers to reach schools. Also, the school principal on receiving the sealed containers first tastes the food, before it reaches the children. This protocol too was followed on that day, it said.

On receiving news of the children being hospitalized, the organizations’s Assistant Branch Manager Ganesh Nakhate and our Branch Manager Balaji Iyer immediately rushed to the school and then to the hospital, it said. They were told that three children complained of nausea and were taken to the Primary Health Centre.

Other students also became panicky and nervous and soon started complaining of nausea, it said. None of the students vomited, had loose motions, or were dehydrated, said ISKCON in defence. The students were given treatment as a precautionary measure and all students were discharged and normal, it said. ISKCON says that its managers were told by the locals that many students had banana wafers and pickles before having their midday meal, from the stall opposite the school. The collector has sent the samples of these for investigation. It has been reported by one newspaper that the quality of the water from the well from which children drink water is also bad and may be the cause of the problem, the release said. ISKCON further said that from the same Wada Kitchen they prepare meals which are supplied to 25523 children of 321 schools in Wada and 19422 children of 123 schools in Vikaramgad talukas a total of 44,945 children from 552 schools every day. On February 25 too, the same was done, yet the problem was reported from only one school. Lucky Kulkarni, ISKCON spokesperson said, “Since it is only a bunch of children from only one particular school that have faced the problem, there is a need to understand the issue with proper facts and investigation.”

Food safety official to be India’s face at International Workshop

Chandigarh,

Sukhwinder Singh, Designated Officer, Department of Food Safety and Standards, Chandigarh Administration, has been nominated by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, Ministry of Health, for a workshop on food labelling and nutritions to be held at Colombo, Sri Lanka, from Februrary 29 to March 4.

The workshop will cover broad descriptions of the European Union’s food law applicable to food labelling, nutrition labelling, nutrition claim and health claim, including historical perspective.

Officials from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Myanmar, The Phillippines and SAARC Secretariat will participate in the workshop.

Kudumbasree mela a big draw

The ongoing exhibition of products from Kudumbasree units within the Corporation of Cochin area and the food festival has turned out to be a big draw.

More than 50 units are participating in the mela, being held at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kaloor. Among the participants are 12 food providers.

Products ranging from pickles and spice powders to chappals, ready-to-wear products and cleaning agents are on sale at the exhibition. Bamboo furniture, soaps, bags etc are also on show at the exhibition. The food stalls, serving items like biriyani, tapioca and fish curry, cutlets and chops are also big hits with the visitors.

An official of the Corporation of Cochin said that the mela had been organised to give a chance to the units to showcase their products and to bring the customers directly in contact with these units. This is an opportunity for the unit owners to reach over the middlemen to market their products, the official added.

Many of the units do not sell their products directly except at melas like the one now on in Kaloor, the official added. The Corporation of Cochin official said that food products makers had recently been told to get Food Safety and Standards Authority of Indian licences for their products as under the new rules, all food product-makers need the licence.

FSSAI proposes inclusion of Leporidae, rabbit family, in meat and meat products

FEBRUARY 22, 2016 BY FSH TEAM LEAVE A COMMENT

FSSAI proposes inclusion of Leporidae, rabbit family, in meat and meat products

The FSSAI has issued a notice asking for suggestions, views and comments from stakeholders by 21 March 2016 for inclusion of Leporidae under species of animal that provide meat for human consumption. The term “Leporids” is proposed to be included in the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulation, 2011 in sub – regulation dealing with Meat and Meat Products.

Previously the definition of ‘animal’ included only

• Ovines (sheep family)
• (Caprines (goat family)
• Suillines (pig family)
• Bovines (cattle family including buffalo, bison)
• and ‘animal’ also included poultry and fish

In the proposed draft the FSSAI would like to include Leporids to this list.

About Leporids

Leporidae is a Latin word that means those that resemble lepus or hare. There are at least eight different genera in the family classified as rabbit. Therefore leporids includes meat from the rabbit family like hares and rabbits. Meat from the leporidae species includes meat from wild hares as well as from farmed animals. One of the most common types of rabbit to be bred for meat is the New Zealand white rabbit.

In the Middle Ages in Europe, monks domesticated leporids and since then rabbits became a source of protein which was affordable for the general public. Their fur also provided material for warm clothing. Rabbit meat is popular in many countries in Europe, countries in North and South America, some parts of Middle East and China. The annual meat production is estimated to be at least 200 million tonnes. The countries where rabbit meat consumption is highest are Malta, Italy, Cyprus, France, Belgium, Spain and Portugal. In Asia- pacific rabbit meat is not as popular as yet as compared to these countries. The largest rabbit meat producing countries are China, Russia, Italy, France and Spain.

Rabbit meat is sold by butchers and in the supermarkets rabbit meat is sold as a frozen product. Rabbit products are labelled in three ways such as

• Fryer (this is meat of a young rabbit of about 2kg)
• Roaster (this is meat of a rabbit about 8 months old and weighing about 2.3kg))
• Giblets which is the liver and heart of the rabbit

Compared with pork and beef rabbit meat is richer in high quality proteins and certain vitamins and minerals and has less fat. Fat in rabbit meat contains higher proportions of polyunsaturated linolenic and linoleic fatty acids. Rabbit meat can be used to prepare similar dishes to chicken. It is commonly used in Moroccan cuisine and in China it is used in Sichuan cuisine. Other popular dishes are stewed rabbit, spicy diced rabbit, barbeque style rabbit, and even spicy rabbit heads.

FSSAI Proposes Amendment in Standards for Silver Leaf – Chandi ka wark

FEBRUARY 20, 2016 BY FSH TEAM LEAVE A COMMENT

FSSAI Proposes Amendment in Standards for Silver Leaf – Chandi ka wark

FSSAI has notified draft standards for ‘Silver Leaf’ (chandi – ka – wark) and have asked all stakeholders to offer their views, comments and suggestions within a period of 30 days beginning 19 February 2016. The proposed changes have been suggested in the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 in the sub-regulation that deals with ‘Other Food Products and Ingredients.’

Previously the standards consisted of only one line that said that Silver Leaf food grade must be in the form of sheets, free from creases and folds and the content of silver must be 99.9 per cent. The proposed standards for Silver Leaf have been defined a little more elaborately and are as follows.

The new proposed standards mention the fact that the silver leaf sheets must be of

• uniform thickness along with being fold and crease free
• the weight must be up to 2.8gm/Sq. meter
• purity of silver content used to make the silver leaf must be minimum 999/1000 purity
• any material that is of animal origin must not be used
• All silver leaf manufacturers need to comply with Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, toxins and Residues) Regulations, 2011 and the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling), Regulations, 2011.

About Silver Leaf

Silver Leaf/ Foil or chandi ka wark is an edible, flavourless decoration that has been used since time immemorial over Indian sweets, food items like kebabs, phirni, paan, chavanprash, sewain and dry fruits The use of silver and gold in food has also been mentioned in the Ayurveda documents. In the ancient Indian texts wark is mentioned in the form of parta (leaf) varaka (thin foil) and also bhasma (ash or dust). In Arabic wark means leaf while in Sanskrit the word varaka (from which wark has been derived) means cloth, cloak or a thing that covers something else.

There is a scientific reason behind the use of silver leaf which is that it works as an anti-bacterial cover. This helps to increase the shelf life of the product covered in silver foil. It is anti-bacterial because pure silver reflects back 95 per cent of the light energy that falls on it and this keeps the products free from bacteria. Silver is known to offer health benefits like building natural immunity, fighting allergies and helping to heal rapidly.

Silver leaf is manufactured in the unorganised as well as organised sector. Varak/wark is made by pounding silver into an extremely thin sheet. The sheet is placed inside a book of paper. This paper backed silver leaf is placed on food after which the paper is peeled away. The old method of manufacturing silver leaf is to constantly hammer a piece of silver inside a leather pouch till the desired thickness is achieved. However, in the organised sector fully computerised machines are being used to make silver foil. Some unscrupulous manufacturers also make low quality wark from toxic metals like aluminium, nickel, lead, chromium and cadmium instead of using pure silver which could cause health problems like cancer. There are also some concerns that animal intestines are being used as a pouch which has been condemned.

India is not the only country that uses silver leaf, but even Japan and Germany and other European countries use silver and gold as a food cover and as an additive in speciality drinks like Danziger Goldwasser. The Jews also use gold foil for food preparations.

Food hygiene training for street vendors

The scheme, which will be flagged off around March 11-12, will continue for 15 days

Around 20,000 food vendors across Delhi will be trained in hygiene and food safety.

Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI), Delhi government, and National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) have come together to formulate the training module.

A meeting in this regard was convened on Tuesday, where secretary, Sector Skill Council of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; CEO, FSSAI, officials of the food safety department of the Delhi government, and NASVI members were present, among others. The scheme, which will be flagged off around March 11-12, will continue for 15 days.

Under the project, vendors will be taught techniques on food storage and handling, maintaining hygiene, and customer relationship management. They will then be made to appear for a test and certificates will be given on the basis of their performances.

“We have divided the city into 10 zones for the project, and each zone will have five training centres. Every centre will have to impart training to a total of 500 vendors, with each batch having 40 participants,” said Arbind Singh, national coordinator, NASVI.

To begin as a pilot project, the scheme will be taken up in other States if it sees success.

When asked what would make street vendors attend these sessions, he said that they would get incentives.

“Each vendor will get about Rs. 500 after receiving the certificate. The money will not be given in cash, but will directly be credited in their accounts. They will also get a vending ID card which will have a bar code, thereby registering them under the Street Vendors Act. A ‘hygiene kit’ containing aprons, gloves and caps will also be given to them,” Mr. Arbind said.

A pocket book stating the guidelines will also be given to them.

The announcement of the project was made by Pawan Agrawal, CEO, FSSAI, at the three-day Delhi Street Food Festival which concluded on February 21.

Artificial ripening bigger than thought

In a sustained campaign propelled by judicial monitoring, food safety authorities are discovering that the use of fruit ripening agents is more widespread than what was thought earlier.

Ever since a petition was filed last year in the High Court expressing safety concerns over quality of fruits sold in the State, food inspectors in all districts have conducted raids and collected samples to ascertain the extent of practice. The exercise has overturned existing notions that ripening agents are used mostly for mangoes and apples.

Of the 140 fruit samples collected between last August and February 18 this year from across the State, 72 have been found unsafe for consumption. Many of the samples include banana, pineapple, sapota, grapes, and even strawberries.

Ethephon and calcium carbide are the usual culprits, food safety experts say. A plant growth regulator, ethephon is allowed for use before harvest in tomatoes and mangoes, but State Food Laboratory found that it is being used on fruits like banana to hasten ripening.

From Hyderabad alone, about 50 samples were collected from February 18 through February 20. While results of the entire batch of samples are yet to be made available to the Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM), at least three samples were found to be ‘unsafe’.

IPM, in tandem with municipal agencies, is overseeing the exercise in the State. Samples were also collected from Warangal and Nizamabad this week. Officials expect many of the other recently collected samples to also fail the test.

While the exercise of collection and testing has uncovered the extent of the problem, citizens wonder if it is adequate. “The consumer movement should be strengthened by the government through involvement of consumers. Additionally, the execution of the law should be non-compromising,” says V.B.J. Chelikani Rao of United Federation for Residential Welfare Societies.

Officials say the completion of legal process from the start of prosecution proceedings can take a very long time. The GHMC is fighting adulteration battles in local courts that pertain to as far back as 1999. The public glare of the problem and court monitoring has fuelled some action, including shutting down of an ethephon ripening unit in Moosapet earlier this month.