6th AOAC-India's annual Conference Towards Collaborative Leadership to Ensure Food Safety commenced

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) recently conducted its 45th Central Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting, placing a strong emphasis on reinforcing food safety measures at popular tourist destinations across the country. With the peak tourist season approaching between November and March, FSSAI has urged States and Union Territories (UTs) to enhance food surveillance and inspections in these high-traffic areas, ensuring that both domestic and international visitors are provided with safe food options.

One key recommendation was the introduction of "Food Safety on Wheels" mobile labs at tourist hotspots. These mobile units are designed to perform on-the-spot checks, ensuring that the food served at these destinations complies with safety guidelines. FSSAI CEO, G Kamala Vardhana Rao, also called on Food Safety Commissioners to intensify inspections at warehouses and facilities used by e-commerce platforms, particularly as demand for food deliveries increases during the tourism season. In addition, he recommended the establishment of clear Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for these facilities and delivery personnel to improve food handling safety.

Another significant discussion point was the training of Food Business Operators (FBOs) across the country. Under the Food Safety Training and Certification (FoSTaC) initiative, FSSAI has set an ambitious target to train 25 lakh food handlers by March 2026. The program aims to ensure food safety standards are maintained in various settings, including university and hostel canteens.

FSSAI also advocated for a more integrated approach to food safety, urging collaboration among different ministries and stakeholders to build a comprehensive food safety framework. As part of its “Eat Right India” movement, the committee recommended States and UTs to engage consumers in promoting healthier eating habits. Suggested initiatives to raise awareness included food fairs, walkathons, and Nukkad Nataks (street plays) that highlight safe food practices.

The meeting saw participation from over 60 officials, including State Food Safety Commissioners, senior FSSAI representatives, and various sector stakeholders. Their combined efforts are aimed at reinforcing food safety protocols, ensuring a safer and healthier experience for both tourists and residents.

The Health Department's decision to prohibit artificial coloring while permitting the serving of dishes like gobhi manchurian has sparked dissatisfaction among Bengaluru restaurant owners, who argue that the move lacked consultation.

PC Rao, the president of the Bruhat Bengaluru Hotels Association, expressed concerns regarding the Health Minister's recent statement on the use of colors in gobhi manchurian.

According to the statement, food additives adhering to FSSAI Regulations/ISI Standards can incorporate red, blue, green, and yellow colors within specified limits.

Rao criticized the government's directives for lacking rationality and emphasized the need for consultations with manufacturers and users before implementing such scientific determinations.

He pledged to offer comprehensive feedback to the government and engage in discussions to address the issue in the days ahead.

In response, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao stated that among the 171 samples of gobhi manchurian collected, 107 were found to contain unsafe artificial colors such as tartrazine, sunset yellow, and carmoisine.

He emphasized that a circular has been issued, along with plans for awareness programs.

Strict legal measures will be taken against offenders, supported by further sample collection for legal proceedings. The use of artificial colors in food products is prohibited under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and its regulations.

Any infringement will lead to legal consequences, including imprisonment ranging from five years to a life sentence and a fine of Rs 10 lakh.

Physicians also highlighted the dangers associated with the utilization of artificial colors.

Dr. Muralidhar S Kathalagiri from Sparsh Hospital cautioned against the use of artificial food colors, highlighting the potential dangers they pose. While these colorants may enhance the visual appeal of our meals, their use, particularly when employing non-approved agents, can have adverse effects on health.

Synthetic additives, often present in popular snacks and dishes, have the potential to disrupt bodily functions. For instance, the food coloring agent Rhodamine B, commonly utilized, is harmful.

Studies indicate that these additives could induce allergic reactions, hyperactivity in children, and may even contribute to serious health issues such as cancer and organ damage.

Despite their innocuous appearance on our plates, these colors conceal harmful substances that can disrupt our body's equilibrium and lead to illness.

Dr. Kathalagiri advises avoiding such chemicals and opting for natural colors or those approved by FSSAI to maintain a healthy diet.
 

In a recent order passed, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has directed food aggregators Swiggy and Zomato have to list the nutritional values and allergens of all food items to be sold from their platforms.

Starting July 1, FSSAI has also asked these aggregators to ensure that their business partners that run over 10 food outlets and have annual revenue of more than INR 20 Cr have applied for a central (food) license.

Further the guidelines asked food aggregators to do the menu labeling for the food they sell online. Besides, they will also have to direct food establishments (restaurant operators) to show nutritional value such as calorie intake and allergen information on the food items that are listed on their platforms.

“The aim is to inform people about what kind of food they are ordering online and the kind of nutritional and allergen content (present in the food),” added Arun Singhal, CEO, FSSAI.

At present, packaged food have labels that display nutritional information of the items. On the other hand, cooked food does not have such information. By enabling menu labeling on cooked food items, consumers will be able to make healthier choices, it added.

To enable menu labeling, FSSAI has ordered Swiggy and Zomato to upgrade their platforms so that food business operators can add information regarding the nutritional value of food that they sell.

FSSAI has also asked all regional directors to ensure that ecommerce food business aggregators (foodtech giants and food delivery platforms) are complying with the new regulations. In case, any ecommerce food business aggregators failing to adhere to the new norms, then an improvement notice will be issued to them. Despite this, if they fail to comply then their license will be cancelled.

The Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA) - Kisan Swaraj has written to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to abort the plan to make synthetic/chemical fortification of foods mandatory in India.

Earlier, the food safety body had issued a draft regulation for mandatory fortification of edible oil and milk with Vitamin A and D. The FSSAI has also outlined its plan to make rice fortification mandatory from 2024 with Vitamin B12, Iron, and Folic Acid in India.

ASHA - Kisan Swaraj has sent a letter to FSSAI that carries the signatures of medical experts, nutritionists, agricultural scientists, farmers' organisations, academics, civil society organisations across the society to stop any such plan of food fortification.

The government has recently initiated a 3-year centrally sponsored pilot scheme on rice fortification and supply via PDS in 15 districts of the country. The ASHA - Kisan Swaraj claimed that the government has started to provide fortified rice through the mid-day meal scheme and ICDS programme citing widespread nutritional deficiencies since April.

Responding to a letter from civil society groups earlier, the FSSAI held food fortification just as complementary strategy to diverse diets.

"If FSSAI really saw fortification as a complementary strategy, then how it has become mandatory now while dietary diversity and other holistic approaches to malnutrition are optional," said the letter.

The activists claimed that FSSAI's intentions are questionable since it has cited industry-funded studies to justify fortification on a national scale, willfully ignoring conflict of interest since those very entities stand most to profit from such a policy.

"It is ridiculous that the government is promoting polished rice, which has lost a lot of its nutrition on one hand, and talks about chemical fortification on the other hand," said Dr. Debal Deb, ecologist and traditional rice conservator.

Adding one or two synthetic chemical vitamins and minerals will not solve the larger problem, instead, it can lead to the toxicity, including gut inflammation, highlights the letter.

The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) is requesting the food safety body FSSAI to extend the deadline for mentioning FSSAI license number on bills as asked by the operator earlier.

FHRAI on Monday said it has made a representation to food safety regulator FSSAI on this.

Earlier this month, Food safety and Standards Authority of India has mandated food business operators to mention FSSAI licence or registration number on cash receipts or purchase invoice with effect from October 1 2021.

Also Read: Restaurants, food businesses to mention FSSAI licence no. on invoice/bills from Oct

FHRAI said that it is in favour of the FSSAI's latest order. However, the hospitality body has requested the regulator to take into consideration the COVID-hit industry's on-going crisis and the additional expense burden that businesses would have to incur to implement new systems, including the printing of new receipts, invoices, bills, cash memos and updating of the software.

"FHRAI appreciates the FSSAI's endeavour to set up a robust customer grievance system in the country. This will also improve the overall awareness of the FSSAI and its underlying objectives of creating a safe and hygienic ecosystem for FBOs," shared Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, VP, FHRAI Vice President in a statement.

While this is a great initiative, Kohli added it has to be taken into account that at present, tourism and hospitality is the most impacted sector by the COVID pandemic.

"During such times of deep crisis, the implementation of this order would entail a lot of additional expenses on businesses. Hence, we request FSSAI to extend the timeline for implementation of the order until such time that some normalcy returns to the sector," he added.

Food safety and standards authority of India has extended the deadline by six months till July 1, 2021 for the food business operators (FBOs) to comply with the regulations related to limit of calcium and magnesium in packaged drinking water, other than mineral water.

FSSAI had earlier extended the deadline to July 1, 2020 and subsequently till January 1, 2021.

The food safety body said in a statement that representation has been received from a section of stakeholders requesting for further extension of time since FBOs are not yet prepared to comply with regulations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It has been decided to further extend the timeline for compliance related to limits of calcium and magnesium for the standards of Packaged Drinking Water (other than mineral water) up to July 1," shared FSSAI statement.

These standards on packaged drinking water are prescribed in the Food Safety and Standards (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) fourth amendment regulations, 2019.

The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) on Saturday welcomed FSSAI move of mandatory registration for home-cooked food sellers.

The association shared that food operators, whether operating from home or from dark kitchens, should be regulated for cleanliness and hygiene.

It also pointed out that unregistered, unregulated food business operators (FBOs) may not be maintaining hygiene standards, which is detrimental to the interest of consumers and poses health risks.

Also Read: FSSAI’s food safety compliance online platform to become operational countrywide from 1st Nov

"FSSAI has responded to our plea and is taking to task any such unregulated and illegal dark kitchens. Quite a few of these are actually funded and run by the Food Service Aggregators (FSAs) to escape responsibilities attached to operating restaurants legally and of course, also taxes. This causes a huge loss to the state and the exchequer. Not to mention the questionable hygiene standards, because there is no one to monitor and they are not registered under FSSAI," said Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice President, FHRAI.

The FHRAI has also emphasized on the need for creating a level playing field for all players in the hospitality enterprise.

It has said that several dark kitchens are operating without any conformation to standard hospitality or kitchen hygiene practices. With no such regulations or checks, they may be putting the health and lives of consumers at risk.

May Interest: FSSAI may issue order to reduce trans-fat in food items by 2022

"Restaurants and hotels are subjected to rigors of State and Central laws for operating food businesses, but these illegal dark kitchens operate without any license. They have no need or requirement for adhering to any norms especially, hygiene and cleanliness related which all registered restaurants and hotels follow. This is unfair, unjust and most importantly it disadvantages ethical businesses despite doing the right thing," added Pradeep Shetty, VP, Hotel and Restaurant Association (Western India) (HRAWI).

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India is planning to come out with a regulation to reduce trans-fat content in food products having fats or oils to 2 per cent by 2022.

 It currently allows trans-fat content in fats and oils to 5 per cent. The notification to further reduce to 3 per cent by 2021 and 2 per cent by 2022 is still in the process.

Also Read: Arun Singhal appointed as CEO FSSAI

"Food safety is one aspect, but eating healthy and sustainable food is a priority. We are coming out with regulations to decrease trans-fat in foods and oils to 2 per cent by 2022," said Arun Singhal, CEO, FSSAI.

The food safety executive shared this in a virtual event organised by industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on the 4th anniversary of the CII-HUL Initiative on Food Safety Sciences (CHIFSS).

Asserting that trans-fat is a "serious issue", Singhal added that the industry should come forward for collaboration with the FSSAI to find ways to bring down the trans-fat content in foods and oils.

Currently, bakeries, sweet shops and other food business operators can voluntarily display 'trans-fat-free' logos on food products and in their outlets.

Must Read: FSSAI issues guidelines for FBOs, Focus on Hygiene, Safety and Contactless delivery

Speaking on the occasion, FSSAI Chairperson Rita Teaotia lauded food businesses for being responsive in these times of extraordinary public health emergency due to COVID-19.

"In many developed countries, every aspect of production, processing, distribution and retailing, street vending and consumption of food systems can be and is comprehensively regulated. Therefore, designing a food safety out there is simpler, and all the stakeholders find it feasible to implement. In a nation like ours, where size, volumes and diversity of stakeholders are enormous, we need to contextualize the food safety risk management design," added the Chairperson.

Arun Singhal on Friday was appointment as the CEO of Food safety and standards authority of India after the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on Friday approved his appointment.

Singhal was special secretary, department of health and family welfare before joining FSSAI.

He will succeed GSG Ayyangar who was given the charge of the CEO of the food regulator when its full time CEO Pawan Agarwal was moved to the consumer affairs ministry.

Pawan Agarwal, who was recently appointed as special secretary logistics, after a brief stint as consumers affairs secretary, moved out of the role earlier this year.

FSSAI that comes under the purview of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, is responsible for setting up standards for the food industry and regulate the manufacturing, storage, distribution, sale, and import of foods.

Meanwhile, as part of efforts to ensure ease of doing business for food companies, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is all set to launch its upgraded cloud-based online compliance platform. The food safety regulator aims to make Food Safety and Compliance System (FoSCoS) as the one-stop point for all its regulatory and compliance engagements with Food Business Operators (FBOs).

While initially the new integrated platform, will enable licensing, registration and filing of annual returns, FSSAI will eventually add a host of other regulatory and compliance functions to the platform. It will also replace the existing Food Licensing and Registration System (FLRS).

“A single regulatory platform will act as pan-India integrated response system to any food fraud and ensure an advanced risk-based, data driven regulatory approach,” FSSAI said in a notice to food business operators.

Pizza chains are hiring as the Coronavirus pandemic convinces customers to order delivery. Pizza Hut announced on Monday that it is hiring for more than 30,000 open positions across the US. Papa John's announced on the same day it is planning to hire up to 20,000 additional workers. And, Domino's announced on Friday that it is also hiring.

While restaurant traffic goes down due to self isolation, ironically pizza chains - especially those with an emphasis on delivery could be a rare sector that sees more business during the pandemic. On one hand when people are advised to stay in, this move of hiring more delivery executives is nothing but an irony to staying in. 

Safety remains a concern for workers

These hiring might be a step to resolve the unemployment issue, but some workers at these pizza chains are still worried about their safety. Their concern primarily rises from the fact that they might get themselves exposed with Coronavirus pandemic during food delivery.

A pizza hut delivery driver said, "It feels like I'm being exposed to the 10 to 20 co-workers plus everyone every driver delivers to that shift, resulting in direct and indirect exposure to hundreds of people a day. Unfortunately I'm not able to stop going to work unless Domino's lays me off so I can draw unemployment. I'm currently looking for work-at-home opportunities but I'm afraid I won't be able to make the transition before becoming infected. I haven't seen my son or family in a week out of fear of infecting them unknowingly.”

Pizza Hut said in a statement. "We've implemented contactless delivery and carryout procedures to ensure a hands-free experience built around social distancing," the statement continued. "Once the pizza leaves our 400+ degree oven, it slides hands-free into the box and straight to your home. Additionally, we've doubled down on industry-leading sanitization and handwashing procedures." Coronavirus scare expected to impact experiential industry hard, Q2 & Q3 might register dismal growth  delivery, which is available at the customer's request, as well as announcing updated cleanliness and sanitation policies.

Even though there are stringent safety measures taken by these chains yet at this point of time its important that every body stays in including the delivery executives. 

Amidst the 21 day lockdown imposed by the government due to the Coronavirus scare, Britannia, Parle, PepsiCo, Dabur, Hindustan Unilever, Coca-Cola, ITC, Nestle, Mondelez and Perfetti Van Melle have written to the government through the FICCI asking for immediate exemption from movement restrictions. This is aimed at avoiding any kind of food shortage that would lead to panic. Further, they also want that the sector to be termed as an “essential service.” In one of the letters, the company said, “Central and state authorities are issuing different advisories and notifications on a daily basis, local administrations are enforcing shutdowns of factories and creating ambiguity at the ground level and leading to unnecessary enforcement.”

“To maintain regular supplies, it is necessary that this sector is not put under any work and movement restrictions. Along with the food and beverage sector, food ingredients companies should also be allowed to operate smoothly,” the letter said. It said many companies are facing challenges from local administrations who are asking them to shut down operations.

Impact of the lockdown on the food shortage - 

The restrictions would not just have a food shortage in the country but it would also have a direct impact on farmers and their produce. The companies in the letter elaborated on ways they have undertaken safety measures, they were restricting entry of visitors to all plants, monitoring hygiene conditions at warehouses and distributors, undertaking extensive sanitisation in factory premises and cutting down on shifts. The foods market is estimated to be worth about `2.3 lakh crore, or roughly 55% of the country’s FMCG industry. Following the lockdown across the country in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak, only essential services are being allowed to operate, bringing the economy to a grinding halt.

The plead in the letter that F&B is to be placed under “essential” is a huge move to keep the food and beverage supply ongoing in the country during this pandemic outbreak.

While COVID 19 has deeply affected the travel and aviation industry, Travel Food Services (TFS) has reassured that the safety and well - being of the customers and staff is of paramount importance.

TFS has placed its emphasis on elevated hygiene standards across all outlets and lounges at airports in India.

Multiple training sessions and exercises have been carried out with the employees and associates, to educate and create awareness about maintaining strict personal and respiratory hygiene.

“We are increasingly emphasising on our sanitization procedures across all our formats across India. Additionally, we have set processes to create safe zones within our outlets for our employees, guests and associates,” shared Gaurav Dewan, COO and Business Head, Travel Food Services by adding that we are all dealing with very challenging times currently, as we grapple with the economic slowdown due to the spread of COVID-19.

As precautionary measures, there are sanitizers at all touchpoints, masks have been distributed to the entire workforce and temperature checks are being conducted at all entry points for both guests and employees alike.

“Our customers and team members are at the heart of our business, and thus, we are taking active steps and measures to ensure their safety and good health,” he added.

Other measures include - sensitizing associates to the group safety protocol prescribed by the Government authorities, sanitization of all areas, taking food safety measures, washing of hands every hour by the chef and other staff along with sanitizing food stations and tables.

Travel Food Services believes in having an informed, attentive and careful approach towards the situation, while keeping health, hygiene and safety as the crux of its operations. With increased impetus given to hygiene and food safety behaviour in kitchens to ensure adequate food safety measures, TFS is closely following all public health advisories issued by government bodies and is taking stringent measures to adhere to the same.

After McDonald’s, Domino's Pizza has introduced 'zero contact delivery" across all its 1,325 restaurants in the country due to Coronavirus outbreak.

The new delivery model –

The aim of this new delivery model is to ensure safety of both customers and the delivery staff. It will allow its customers to receive their order without coming in contact with a delivery staff. The latest version of the “Zero contact delivery” will be available in the latest version of the Dominos app. For the customers to avail the service, they need to select the "Zero contact delivery" delivery option while placing an order and pay digitally from the latest version of the Domino's app.

Pratik Pota, Chief Executive Officer & Whole Time Director said, "We have launched Zero Contact Delivery. Customers can place an online order through the Domino's app, ask for Zero Contact Delivery and pay digitally. We will then deliver the Domino's pizzas to customers without any physical contact with our guests. Customer and Employee safety is our number 1 priority and we are taking all measures towards that." Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd (JFL), the licensee for Domino's Pizza in India also added that they have adopted more hygiene and sanitation protocols in all their stores for delivery.

How does the new “Zero contact delivery” work?

After the safe delivery expert arrives with the order, he will place it in front of the customer's door in a carry bag before moving back to a safe distance. The Safe Delivery Experts will wait to ensure that it has been collected. Regarding hygiene, Domino’s also stated that its restaurants, delivery bikes, delivery bike boxes, and pizza delivery hot bags were being sanitised every four hours. Not just this, they also ensured that their pizzas were baked at 245 degree Celsius.

Other fast food giants with “zero contact delivery”

Before  Domino's, earlier this week our favourite fast food giants such as  McDonald's, Zomato has also started "zero contact delivery" in the country. Apart from this, Starbucks is also nailing at preventive methods for the outbreak of the disease. It is heartwarming to see these outlets coming up with preventive method to help combat the disease.

Westlife Development, the company that owns and operates McDonald’s restaurants in West and South India is leading the way for the eating out industry by walking the talk as to serving safe and hygienic food. The restaurant chain that has always ensured world-class health and hygiene practices is doubling down on its safety processes. Due to Coronavirus outbreak, it has gone an extra mile in leaving no stone unturned to give the customers a safe and hygienic food experience. McDonald’s India - one of the few QSRs to have a closed loop supply chain – is reinforcing its safety processes right from the suppliers’ end to its restaurants.

Speaking on the action taken by McDonald’s, Smita Jatia, Managing Director, Hardcastle Restaurants says ,“Our customers are at the heart of all our efforts. QSCV – Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value have been the cornerstone of our business since inception. Our food is 100% traceable to the farms that use world-class farming technologies to create best-in-class produce, it is transported using cold chain, and at the restaurants, it is handled and served with unparalleled hygiene. In the view of the current health crisis, we are proactively heightening these efforts to create an even more safe and hygienic environment for our customers.”

Hygiene practices followed by McDonald’s India in West and South

• All kitchen staff handle food with gloves, that are changed every few hours
• All food trays and tray mats are sanitized after every use
• The crew  to wash  their hands every hour for 20 seconds with antimicrobial handwash
• The tables to be sanitized after every use
• Separate colour- coded cleaning cloths are to be used to handle veg and non-veg food
• Separate mops are to be used for the restaurant lobby and the kitchen
• The washroom to be regularly sanitized
• 3- sink sanitization process – wash, clean and sanitize
• The cleaning mops are washed in running hot water to ensure complete sanitization
• A regular ‘PH’ test is done to ensure strength of the sanitizer
•  A ‘Clean as you go ‘process is followed to ensure cleanliness across all touchpoints

Heightened sanitation processes being deployed to ensure safety

• Regular monitoring of key health parameters for all crew members
• Monitoring of travel history and family health of our crew
• Credit card machines are getting sanitized regularly
• Self-dispensing coke machine panel is being sanitized regularly
• The table trackers are being sanitized regularly
• All other customers touch points like Self-Ordering Kiosk or SOK screen, door handles, handrails are also being sanitized regularly

Additionally, the company is keeping a close track on its supply chain for its consumers. Not just this,  from the stringent scanning methods for all suppliers to ensuring that all suppliers have food safety management systems at their plants, they are ensuring that employees at their suppliers’ end also goes through stringent hygiene checks before entering the plant or going for their shifts. It is indeed an applaudable step taken by the company to keep in check each minute detail in the food safety process. 

In view of the deadly coronavirus disease originating from a meat market at Wuhan in China, India's food regulator FSSAI on Monday said it has stepped up efforts to improve hygiene and sanitation in the country's meat and fish markets.

Expressing concern over poor hygiene in the meat and fish sector, Pawan Agarwal, CEO, Food and Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said it has been auditing slaughter houses for the last six months.

“The audit of government slaughter houses has been completed. The third party sample audit of 5,500 private slaughter houses is underway, of which around 60 have been audited so far,” he added.

The FSSAI said it will soon start hygiene rating of fish and meat shops in the country.

"There is no impact of coronavirus. However because of this incident, there is awareness about hygiene in the country. We are trying to improve hygiene and sanitation efficiency in meat and fish markets," Agarwal added.

Hygiene in the country's fish and meat markets is "not good", he said but exuded confidence that the situation will improve in the coming years due to its efforts.

The coronavirus outbreak originated in central China's Hubei province in December last year and has spread to several countries, including India.

Many countries have banned arrivals from China while major airlines have suspended flights to the country.

Earlier, FSSAI chairperson Rita Teaotia announced that the regulator has decided to set up six new branch offices, four new import offices and two new food laboratories as part of its effort to boost in-house capacity.

With this, FSSAI will have four regional offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, 12 branch offices and 6 import offices.

In addition, it will have four national food laboratories at Kolkata, Ghaziabad (Delhi NCR), Mumbai JNPT and Chennai and two food laboratories at Sanauli and Raxaul on Indo-Nepal border.

FSSAI's new branch offices will be in Bhopal, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad and the new import offices will be at Attari, Kandla, Raxaul and Krishnapatnam.

The FSSAI plans to set up two new food laboratories at Mumbai JNPT and Chennai. Built-up space for the purpose is being taken on long-term lease from Chennai and JNPT Mumbai port authorities.

Restaurants and hotels will soon have to display hygiene ratings on their doors. The food regulator is set to make such ratings mandatory for all restaurants.

The regulator has also asked restaurants to have a presence of a food supervisor to monitor compliance of food regulation and ensure safety of food served.

“The idea is to raise the standards of dining out, ensuring the food served is safe and of good quality,” shared Pawan Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI by adding that The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has already started a pilot for rating among online players. It has also trained over 1.7 lakh food supervisors to ensure compliance.

FSSAI is also in the process of forming guidelines to implement the rating system. Once, it is in place, the regulator will keep a check for compliance and will also serve notice in case restaurants are found violating the norms.

The move is part of a series of regulatory measures taken by FSSAI to support its 'Eat Right India' campaign focused at preventive healthcare measure to trigger social and behavioural change through a judicious mix of regulatory measures, combined with soft interventions for ensuring awareness and capacity building of food businesses.

"India is passing through an epidemiological shift from communicable to non-communicable diseases, and the burden of diet-related diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity is rising rapidly. The new 'food systems approach' judiciously combines the regulatory and capacity building measures with consumer empowerment initiatives," said Harsh Vardhan, Health Minister, Govt of India.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is planning to focus on enforcing the regulations without impacting businesses.

During 2018, FSSAI accelerated the process of setting standards and notified 27 new regulations for food standards, shared Pawan Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI.

Some of the key regulations include the ones on alcoholic beverages, food fortification, advertising and claims, packaging, residues of pesticides, tolerance limits of antibiotics and pharmacologically active substances. "We are setting standards to ensure safe food to consumers and at the same time see to that they do no impact the businesses. Now that the standards (on food products) are more or less in place, our focus is going to be on compliance, monitoring, inspection and enforcement," added Agarwal.

A Parliamentary Standing Committee on health and family welfare in a report submitted in 2018 had rapped FSSAI over weak enforcement of food safety laws and also recommended restructuring of the autonomous body that functions under the health ministry.

Asserting that the big focus will be on enforcement, Agarwal said while some of the standards are made effective from January 1, the implementation time for other products has been extended by three or six months depending on the cases.

The new standards effective from January 1 are for all varieties of pulses, whole and decorticated pearl millet grains, de-germed maize flour and maize grit, textured soy protein, sago flour, bee wax and royal jelly.

Microbiological standards for fruits and vegetables and their products, all provisions of organic food regulations and standard for honey, except few parameters where test methods are being validated are made effective from Tuesday.

According to FSSAI, three-month extension has been given to businesses to comply with the tolerance limit of antibiotics and pharmacology active substances.

Similarly, standards for alcoholic beverages will come into force from April 1, 2019 to coincide with financial year requirements of excise laws.  Food fortification norms will come into force from June 1, compliance of labelling requirement for frozen dessert would be applicable from July 1, FSSAI said.

The regulations on advertising and claims, packaging and labelling requirements of blended edible vegetable oils will come into force from July 1, this year.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has launched the state's own food security scheme. The scheme has been introduced to benefit 25 lakh people, who were left out from the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

Chief Minister has launched the scheme after interacting with people of four districts, including Bolangir, Balasore, Sundergarh and Mayurbhanj, through video conferencing from the State Secretariat.

"We had made a promise in 2014 and I am happy that we have kept our promise to provide food to the people. I will not allow any single beneficiary to be left out under the scheme," he stated.

The beneficiaries will get 5 kg of rice per person per month at a rate of Rs 1 per kg. Rs 443.5 crore per annum will be spent by the state government to support the scheme. While Rs 221.75 crore will be spent in the current financial year.

Patnaik added, "The UPA had started the food security scheme and ensured subsidised rice to different states at Rs 3-4 only. The state government is making tall claims about its own food security scheme. All these moves are part of vote-bank politics."

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has constituted an expert panel to look into the draft of Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2018. The panel will be headed by B. Sesikeran, former director of the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), and will also comprise NIN’s current director Hemalatha and Dr Nikhil Tandon.

The food safety regulator had come out with the draft in April 2018. The regulations have proposed making red colour-coded labels mandatory on packaged food products which are high in fat, sugar and salt contents.

Pawan Kumar Agarwal, CEO of FSSAI, said, “Our pre-draft was ready and sent to the Health Ministry. Since there were concerns expressed by some stakeholders, we have kept it on hold for time being and a group of experts from health and nutrition background has been set up to look into the issue of labelling once again”.

“It is difficult to ask consumers to change their eating habits as some eat mindlessly, while some cannot differentiate between healthy and unhealthy food products”, Agarwal said while pitching for bringing in strong labelling norms at the earliest.

Those adulterating food products could face life imprisonment and penalty of up to Rs 10 lakh as per the amendments proposed by the regulator FSSAI in its 2006 food safety and standards law.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has recommended stringent punishment to curb food adulteration following the Supreme Court order.

The FSSAI has issued the draft amendments to the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, which was passed in 2006 but the regulations were notified only in 2011.

The regulator has proposed total 100 amendments to the Act and has sought public comments by July 2.

Among key amendments, FSSAI has proposed to include a new section to crack down on food adulteration.

"Any person...adds an adulterant to food so as to render it injurious for human consumption with an inherent potential to cause his death or is likely to cause grievous hurt, irrespective of the fact whether it causes actual injury or not, shall be punishable for a term which shall not be less than 7 years but which may extend to imprisonment for life and also fine which shall not be less than Rs 10 lakh," the FSSAI said.

Giving rationale behind the proposed amendment, the regulator said this has been done to provide stringent punishment in cases where an adulterant is added to food with an intent to render it unsafe for human consumption.

"It is also in the light of the directions of the Supreme Court," it added.

The new Consumer Protection Bill, which is pending in Parliament, also proposes similar quantum of stringent punishment for adulteration.

Among other amendments, FSSAI has proposed setting of state food safety authorities so that this law can be enforced in letter and spirit.

It has also proposed increase in the punishment for obstructing, impersonating, intimidating and threatening and assaulting a food safety officer.

The regulatory body has recommended imprisonment of not less than 6 months and up to two years, besides penalty of up to Rs 5 lakh. At present, the imprisonment is up to three months and fine is up to Rs 1 lakh.

The FSSAI has further proposed that a person convicted under this law will have to pay fees and other expenses incidental to the analysis of any food or food contact article in respect of which the conviction is obtained and any other reasonable expenses incurred by the prosecution.

This has been proposed in line with provision of Singapore's Sale of Food Act.

The other amendments include regulation of exported food products under the FSS Act. Presently, it covers only sale of food items in domestic market and also imported ones.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) chief executive Pawan Agarwal said “The government will establish a self-regulation platform for food companies, retailers stocking packaged food and fastfood restaurant chains. The move will help benchmark them against the best in class, thus raising standards and making companies mindful of rules and consumers. This will encourage healthy competition among companies, retailers and QSR chains and will be an open platform for consumers to see for themselves. The companies will be ranked on basis of their declarations and the platform will also mention names of companies which haven't shared the required information.

Companies such as Hindustan Unilever, PepsiCo, Nestle, Parle Products, Danone, ITC, Patanjali and Mondelez, retailers like Walmart and Future Group, Aditya Birla Retail and Spencer’s Retail and quick service restaurant (QSR) chains including KFC and McDonald’s will be put on an equal self-compliance footing under the plan.

FSSAI’s “food safety and shared responsibility” score will be a publicly accessible online platform for companies to rate themselves against parameters such as compliance with regulations, nutritive content, dealing with consumer grievances, upstream and downstream supply chain capacity and promoting food safety in schools. It’s been dubbed ReFoc for responsible food companies score.

Agarwal also said “By engagement, sharing, cross-learning and healthy competition, we want to raise the bar not only for food safety but make foods businesses more responsive to consumers and government regulation. As we move forward, we will make this matrix more robust.”

The regulator has invited the top 200 companies by sales to join the platform in the first phase of the self-regulation exercise. The FSSAI said it will make public names of companies that don’t want to participate.

Nestle, the country's largest packaged foods maker, welcomed the move and said in a statement “We believe in providing, transparent and responsible communication to the consumers as well as other stakeholders. We welcome initiatives which encourage sharing of information and will continue to engage with all relevant stakeholders on this subject.”

HUL Spokesperson said “This will not only encourage the food business to take full responsibility of food safety but also ensure that regulators can review with consistency the efforts being made by the companies on safety and hygiene”.

Danone India managing director Rodrigo Lima said “Food safety cannot be the responsibility of the regulator alone, self-regulation by food businesses and awareness of consumers will go a long way in creating an atmosphere of trust and quality. This resonates well with our mission of bringing health through food to as many people as possible.”

KFC MD India said “We are committed to contribute to the larger objective of ensuring health, hygiene and safety standards for consumers and proactively working on bringing global best practices and driving knowledge sharing programmes with the regulators”.

Health ministry has proposed sweeping changes in the law to restrict the use of terms like "fresh", "natural", "traditional" and "original" in advertisements for food products.

For instance, the draft Food Safety and Standards (Advertisement and Claims) Regulation lays down that the term "fresh" can only be applied to products which have not been processed in any manner except washed, peeled, chilled, trimmed and put through other processing necessary for making it safe for consumption, without altering its basic characteristics.

The draft, prepared by the Food Safety and Security Authority of India (FSSAI), also clearly mentions that "fresh" or "freshly" shall have no other connotation than the immediacy of the action being described.

A food containing additives and/or subjected to packaging, storing or any other supply chain processes that control freshness shall not be termed as "freshly stored" or "freshly packed.

Draft also seeks to restrict the use of the word "natural" to only food derived from a recognised source such as a plant, animal, micro-organism or mineral and to which nothing has been added.

Such products should only have been subjected to processing that would render it suitable for human consumption like smoking without chemicals, cooking processes such as roasting, blanching and dehydration, freezing, concentration, pasteurisation, and sterilisation. The packaging should be done without chemicals and preservatives.

"Natural" can also not be used for compound food products, which may be described as "made from natural ingredients".

It says that term "traditional" can only be used to describe a recipe, fundamental formulation or processing method for a product that has existed for a significant period running over generations and should have been available substantially unchanged over time.

The term 'original' shall only be used to describe a food that is made to a formulation, the origin of which can be traced, and that has remained essentially unchanged over time. It should not contain replacements for major ingredients. It may similarly be used to describe a process, provided it is the process first used in the making of the food, and which has remained essentially unchanged over time, although it may be mass-produced.

"Health claims for fortified food articles should be like Vitamin A for helping in preventing night blindness, Iron for fighting anaemia, Iodine required for normal growth, thyroid and brain function. Thiamine is required for normal nerve and heart function," says the draft, adding "a statement that in order to obtain the claimed benefits, the daily intake of the nutrient/ingredient (for example 3g beta-glucan) should be taken from either the same food or any other food that provides the nutrient/ingredient containing the beneficial nutrient/ingredient".

The draft says that the claim that a food has certain nutritional or health attributes shall be scientifically substantiated by validated methods of quantifying the ingredient or substance that is the basis for the claim.

All disclaimers related to a claim shall appear in the same field of vision. No claim or promotion of sale, supply, use and consumption of articles of foods shall be made using FSSAI logo and license number. Advertisements shall also not undermine the importance of healthy lifestyles.

Advertisements for food or beverages shall not be promoted or portrayed as a meal replacement. Claims in advertisements shall not be inconsistent with information on the label or packaging of the food or beverage.

Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Jagdish Prasad has called for small and big fast food chains in India to stop using antibiotics in chicken and other food products.

Prasad also called for strong guidelines for the fast food chains in India so that the burning issue of health hazards by antimicrobial resistance (AMR) can be tackled.

Jagdish Prasad said "All big and small companies should take the initiative against using antibiotics. There is a need for deadline for small and big fast food chains. In US, there is a restriction to big companies such as McDonalds against using antibiotics”.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the ability of a microbe to resist the effects of medication previously used to treat them. The term includes the more specific "antibiotic resistance", which applies only to bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics.

As part of the government's initiative to tackle AMR, the Health Ministry on November 20 has called for suggestions and observations from all the stakeholders for the amendment to Food Safety and Standards Regulation, 2011.

According to Food Safety Security Authority of India, maximum permissible limits of 37 antibiotics and 67 other veterinary drugs are prescribed for chicken.

This notification contains maximum permissible limits of various antibiotics in meat and meat products including chicken.

A green body alleged that fast food majors in India were adopting "double standards" by committing themselves to eliminating misuse of antibiotics in meat supply chains in a time-bound manner in the West but not in India.

Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) released an assessment report based on data in public domain and response obtained from several multinational companies and three Indian firms selling fast food in the country.

Deputy Director General of the CSE, Chandra Bhushan said “Our study shows that these fast food MNCs do not have any India-specific commitments to eliminate misuse of antibiotics in their meat supply chains. Surprisingly, these global giants have made ambitious, specific and time-bound commitments in the US and other countries to eliminate antibiotic misuse owing to growing pressure from regulators and other stakeholders. This is sheer "double standards".

Jubilant Foodworks, a domestic franchise for the US-based popular chain Domino's Pizza, said "We follow global standards and processes, and ensure that the highest standards of quality and food safety and hygiene are maintained across our supply chain. It has a formal policy in place on usage of antibiotics in poultry birds' health management to guide their sourcing of poultry.  We have always had a set of standards followed while sourcing poultry for our products, ensuring that our suppliers follow the right farm practices”.

KFC said in a statement “it adheres to all laws and regulations regarding the use of antibiotics. Furthermore, as part of our strict adherence to robust safety practices and processes, chicken supplied to KFC India is free from any antibiotic residue, as our chicken supplies are subjected to a withdrawal period specific to each medicinal treatment”.

Head, Food Safety and Toxins programme at CSE, Amit Khurana said "Fast food is not good for health and on top of that if the meat is sourced from an animal injected with antibiotics for growth promotion (non-therapeutic use), then it's a double whammy for the consumer. A person may or may not get affected after consuming such food. While some others shared their practices of sourcing and testing, they did not specify any timelines by which they planned to eliminate antibiotic misuse”.

Government is working on new packaging norms for exports of food items to come over against the concern of food safety and health standards after some Indian food products rejected by many developed countries. The Ministry of commerce and Industry has constituted a standing committee to formulate packaging standards for export of 500 products including fresh fruits, vegetables, tea, spices and coffee.

Ministry official said “The regulations will be in sync with those of developed markets such as the US, Vietnam, the European Union, and Japan”.

A government person said on condition of anonymity “A large amount of contamination can happen during transit if the packaging is not done properly,” said the official. “The government is keen to promote exports of fresh and processed food products and is hoping that these regulations will help in increased business for exporters.”

NC Saha, Director of Indian Institute of Packaging said “The committee has representation from Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP), Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), several research institutes and industry associations such as Tea Board of India and Coffee Board of India.  We have already suggested standards for packaging fresh fruits and vegetables and submitted it to the ministry and are working on packaging for spices and tea”.

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has on several occasions refused entry to Indian food items such as spices, basmati rice, fisheries and herbal products.

Russia had also imposed ban on import of rice and peanuts from India on grounds of contamination. Australia had issued an advisory that Indian exporters involved in the exports of processed food products, especially containing milk, have not been following the relevant regulation of imports into Australia, after detection of cases violating the import regulations.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has launched a nationwide online platform to bring in transparency in food safety inspection and sampling.

The food safety regulator states to adopt this system as it would help eliminate discrepancy and make food safety officers accountable.

The web-based 'FoSCoRIS' system will help verify compliance of food safety and hygiene standards by food businesses as per the government norms. The new system will bring together all key stakeholders — food businesses, food safety officers (FSOs), designated officers, state food safety commissioners on a nation-wide IT platform and data related to inspection, sampling and test result data will be shared seamlessly by all the officials.

"This system will give a clear picture to the FSSAI on the real-time basis and helps eliminate any discrepancy, hence inspection is accountable,” shares FSSAI in a letter written to states. The system will ease out the process of sample collection, make it transparent and traceable and controls the quality of compliances, the letter added.

Directing the states to adopt the new system, the FSSAI said this requires a hand-held device with internet connectivity with FSOs. It has asked those states that have already provided hand-held devices to FSOs to straightway adopt the system while other states have been asked to provide such devices to FSOs or on rental and even reimburse mobile expenses to them.

The states have been told to appoint a nodal officer for this purpose and send the details of the officers of the state food authority for integrating them with FoSCoRIS. In the initial phase, the FSSAI said, it has decided to bear the cost of rental plans for first three months to a maximum of Rs 500 per month per connection to first ten states and UTs.

"This would replace the current system of ad hoc and subjective inspections and sampling that are currently carried out by the regulatory staff," it mentioned.

Two days after an alarm in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh about the sale of plastic rice, inspections were conducted in retails stores across Chennai. However, Food Safety Officials said that there was no trace of plastic grains.

Following a directive from the state food safety commissioner, officials inspected rice sold at 74 outlets across the city, including in Anna Nagar, Mylapore and Parry's corner. Fourteen samples were elected and sent for testing.

R Kathiravan, Designated food safety officer for Chennai, said, "They turned out to be real rice grains."

The department had undertaken similar inspections two months ago in parts of North Chennai following concerns raised by the public after a video showing plastic rice being sold in markets started doing the rounds.

Kathiravan, said, "We did not find anything amiss then too. However, we will continue our checks if and when we get complaints."

The directive was given after a man from Hyderabad lodged a complaint alleging the biryani he had bought was made of plastic grains.

The department of food safety has decided to launch an extensive drive to crack down on restaurants, hotels and shops selling edibles without any licence in Gurugram.

A rough estimate suggests that there are at least 300 eateries — mainly bakeries, sweet shops, street vendors, tea stalls and such other small outlets that common people visit frequently — across Gurugram are running without licence.

During the crackdown, which is likely to kick off later this month, officials will inspect all shops and restaurants to check the quality of food or beverages served. 

Also, officials will check if outlets have registered themselves with the department and whether they have validity licence. 

Shops found without a valid licence will be sealed and a case will be registered against their owners.

Dr KK Sharma, The food safety officer, Gurugram, said, "We will carry out random inspections of shops and collect food samples. Also, we will check their registration and licence details. Owners will be prosecuted in case of any violation."

The department has extended the deadlines to apply for the licence six times in the past three years, yet many eatery owners failed to abide by the order.

FSSAI has entered into an agreement with US-based Company Decernis, which will help it to get access to database of over 70,000 standards for food additives, food standards, food contact and contaminants from over 170 countries, the organisation said in a statement.

According to Food Safety and Standard Authority of India this database will facilitate in process of standards setting as the system will provide a single platform to search for international regulations which will enable the scientific panels in understanding the global standards and also benchmarking Indian regulation to international standards.

"As per the good regulatory practices, international practices are required to be taken into account, while framing the national standards or guidelines. This module would help FSSAI in accessing various regulations and practices followed globally," shares Pawan Agarwal, CEO- FSSAI.

Under this agreement, Decernis will integrate Indian draft and final standards into its systems to improve the understanding and compliance of users. FSSAI will also assist in occasional client questions regarding the regulations of food standards, food additives, food contact substances, contaminants and pesticide residues. 

Food regulator FSSAI has asked corporates to actively involve in the efforts to spread the message of food safety and nutrition in the country.

FSSAI has also launched its new website, a water portal and food safety connects for an integrated complaint redressal system.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) organised a workshop on social mobilisation for 'Safe and Nutritious Food: A way of life'.

Broad theme was 'Corporates for Safe and Nutritious Food , focused on building a coalition of corporates and design specific interventions that companies can take up.

Over 100 participants from the corporate sector, mainly food businesses came out in full support of FSSAI in its efforts to provide safe and nutritious food to the citizens, FSSAI said in a statement.

Ashish Bahuguna, Chairpersin,FSSAI, asked the corporates to "get actively involved in the efforts to spread the message of food safety and nutrition".

He hoped that this is just the beginning of long-term engagement between FSSAI and food businesses for social mobilisation. FSSAI CEO Pawan Agarwal elaborated on various initiatives by the regulator for spreading the message of food safety and nutrition at different places like home, schools, work places and eating places etc.

Among corporates that included both Indian food companies like Dabur and Britannia to multinationals such as Nestle, Mondelez, Pepsi, there was a general consensus that investing in food safety and nutrition is smart, right and sustainable thing to do. In his keynote address, Dr Lawrence Haddad, Executive Director, Global Alliance for Improvement of Nutrition (GAIN) pointed out that it is in the interest of businesses to invest in food safety and nutrition.

Santosh Desai, Managing Director, Future Brands, described how there has been a fundamental shift in the thinking of corporates about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

To avoid food safety hazards, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has asked state authorities to create awareness among food business operators, especially unorganised ones, as well as consumers about harmful effects of using newspaper as food packaging material.

In a letter, FSSAI said, "Commissioners of Food Safety of all States/Union Territories are requested to initiate a systematic campaign for generating awareness amongst all stakeholders to discourage the use of newspaper for packing, serving and storing of food items."

The regulator said that the use of newspaper for wrapping, packing and serving food is common practice in India. "However, this is a food safety hazards."

"Food contaminated by newspaper ink raise serious health concerns since the ink contains multiple bioactive materials with known negative health effects.

"Printing inks may also contain harmful colours, pigments, binders, additives and preservatives. Besides chemical contaminants, presence of pathogenic microorganisms in used newspapers also poses potential risk to human health," it said.

Stating that newspapers should not be used to wrap, cover and serve food or to absorb excess oil from fried food, FSSAI said that there is an urgent need to discourage the use of newspaper as food packaging material by creating awareness among businesses, especially unorganised food business operators and consumers on its harmful effects.

"Suitable steps need to be taken to restrict and control the use of newspapers for packing of food material," the regulator said in a letter.

Food safety body FSSAI is collecting samples of milk and honey sold in the market to check quality of these two food items after it received consumer complaints.

“FSSAI has set up an expert panel to review the existing standards to simplify and streamline the quality norms,” shared Pawan Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI on the side line of CII’s Food Safety and Quality summit.

"Surveillance is a big area. We are taking up surveillance in few commodities. As we speak the surveillance on honey and milk is going on," Agarwal said, adding that it would be done in more products, going forward.

"We have been receiving complaints in milk and honey. So, we are collecting samples of these two commodities," added Agarwal.

Earlier addressing the event, Agarwal said FSSAI has accelerated the pace of standard settings in the country.

"Substantive work has been done and some of the work that remains to be done is in advance stages. We should probably have most of the standards that are perhaps needed to ensure safe food in the next few months," Agarwal said.

The regulator has recently set standards for fortification of six food items as well as for nutraceuticals and health supplements.

He said the panel comprising various stakeholders to review the present standards will submit its suggestions and the same will be considered by the scientific committee.

According to Agarwal, FSSAI has done reasonable work in setting standards for food products in the last five years of operations, but he expressed concern about the enforcement of food quality standards.

To identify the loopholes between the existing standards and the international standards, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has announced that it is in the process of setting up a food safety standards review panel.

Pawan Kumar Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI, said, "FSSAI has formulated a three-pronged strategy for ensuring safe and nutritious food for the 1.3 billion people in India. We are in the process of setting up a food safety standards review panel to identify gaps in existing standards for safe and nutritious food against international standards."

It is also heard that FSSAI is going to strengthen its quality of food safety labs and master trainers in food safety standards.

Agarwal further added that efforts wills be made to let the consumers be aware of the safety and nutritious food, consumed in schools, colleges, home, restaurants, street foods, social and cultural centres.

He stressed on the positive side of the motive and its results, "If we create a brand and work on it whole-heartedly in a collective manner."

"FSSAI will also look at ensuring that these food safety standards are complied by stakeholders in the food business through third party auditing and food inspections. FSSAI has set up standards in fortified foods also. Hence, to ensure nutritious food for all, fortified foods have to be encouraged in production and demand," he said.

One of the biggest fast food chains in the world, McDonald’s, has been taken for a troll by the Rajasthan Health Department. The department has slammed notice to three outlets of McD’s in Jaipur after they were found reusing the oil which was more than 16-day-old. The shocking incident was revealed after the department put these outlets under a strict scanner before serving the notice.

On Monday, the department finally served the notice to the Panch Batti-based McDonald's franchisee, Connaught Plaza Restaurants Pvt Ltd. and also ordered these outlets to improve their products as per the standard set by the Food Safety Act. It is universally acknowledged by experts that reuse of oil produce transfats and is extremely harmful for health.

Elaborating on the harmful effects of reusing the oil, Dr Rakesh Gupta, Rajasthan Cancer Foundation chief and former surgical oncologist, said that deep frying of oils, especially vegetable oils, produces large amount of cancer-causing substances such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons andacrylamide. At higher temperature, these are present in larger amount. In addition, the toxic aldehydes produced also lead to a higher occurrence, not only of cancers, but heart disease, dementia and malformations during pregnancy.

The notice served by the department states that according to the records (oil quality evaluation form) at McDonald’s outlets during the month of June, heated vat of vegetable oil was continuously used from June 1 to June 16, 2016 and there is an 'OK' remark given by quality evaluator manager and crew.

McDonald's in India has a robust oil management system developed and used worldwide by the corporation in 130 countries over the past 60 years. These processes are best in class and ensure the oil-in-use is checked every day and meets all the applicable standards, adds Dr. Gupta.

After conducting the inspection Panch Bhatti Mcdonald’s outlet, the official revealed that the palmolein oil had turned black due to continuous heating. It is heated at 360 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the day. When it is reduced due to heating, they top up the oil to fill the heated vat. Outlets have not changed the oil completely for 16 days.

Food Safety Standards Authority of India has banned the use of potassium bromate as a food additive following a CSE study that found its presence in bread as causing cancer.

FSSAI, however, has referred potassium iodate- also claimed to be carcinogenic used as a food additive- to a scientific panel.

"FSSAI has banned potassium bromated and a notification has been issued in this regard. As far as potassium iodate is concerned, it has been referred to a scientific panel," shared Pawan Kumar Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI.

Earlier when the issue broke, food safety watchdog had recommended Health Ministry to the removal of potassium bromate from the list of permissible food additives after a study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

The CSE study had found that 84 per cent of 38 commonly available brands of pre-packaged breads, including pav and buns, tested positive for potassium bromate and potassium iodate. These two food additives are banned in many countries and listed as "hazardous" for public health.

According to CSE, potassium bromate typically increases dough strength, leads to higher rising and uniform finish to baked products while potassium iodate is a flour treatment agent.

CSE had also urged FSSAI to ban the use of potassium bromate and potassium iodate with immediate effect and prevent their routine exposure to Indian population.

After the CSE study, a bread manufacturers' body had said they will stop using controversial potassium bromate and potassium iodate as additives.

The All India Bread Manufacturers Association, which represents over 90 organised bread manufacturers such as Harvest Gold and Britannia, had asked FSSAI to verify the findings of the CSE report that claimed most of the breads sold in the national capital contained cancer-causing chemicals.

Jubilant FoodWorks, India’s largest food service Company, has issued a statement pertaining to speculation regarding its food safety standards.

The Company reiterates that its food safety and quality assurance measures stand at the forefront of food safety protocols and standards within the food service industry.

Quality control remains a top and absolute priority. The Company dedicates substantial resources to ensuring that it implements and adheres to best practices across all its levels of business functions, right from supply chain to restaurant operations.

“At Jubilant FoodWorks Limited, we believe in, and adhere to, the highest quality standards and Indian food laws. We follow all processes to maintain the highest level of food safety across all our restaurants,” shared a spokesperson.

“We only use additives/ingredients duly approved under the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India Act (FSSAI) in all our preparations (across all our restaurants). The flour used by us is not treated with Potassium Bromate / Potassium Iodate. We do undertake certificate of analysis/undertaking from all our flour suppliers on no usage of Potassium Bromate/Potassium Iodate in our flour supplies. We also carry out regular assessments of the flour to ensure compliance in this regard,” he added. 

Soon after CSE report claimed that bread contains cancer-causing chemicals in Delhi, FSSAI has decided to remove potassium bromate from the list of permitted additives while it is examining evidence against potassium iodate before restricting its use.

"A scientific panel had recommended removal of potassium bromate from the list of additives. So we have already decided to take it out from the list. Soon it will be notified," shared Pawan Kumar Agarwal, CEO, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

According to the report by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) nearly 84 per cent of 38 commonly available brands of pre-packaged breads, including pav and buns, tested positive for potassium bromate and potassium iodate, banned in many countries as they are listed as "hazardous" for public health.

"As far as potassium iodate is concerned, we are examining the evidence and soon a decision will be taken," added Agarwal.

The food safety body is continuously working with food, restaurants and eCommerce players to fight the ongoing demand of food safety in the country.

FSSAI is also working to renew the food standards as per the global parameters and has asked local bodies to join them in the food safety play. 

After Maggi storm, Uttar Pradesh food safety department has found samples of some other instant noodle brands "sub-standard" with ash content in the tastemaker exceeding the prescribed limits, reported PTI.

"The samples of Knorr Soupy Noodles, Horlicks Foodles Noodles and Ching's Hot Garlic Instant Noodles were picked up from a mall in the city in May last year for testing and its report was received about a fortnight ago," said, Sanjay Singh, the Food Safety Officer of Barabanki district.

The samples were sent to government Food Analysis Lab in Lucknow where it was found that "total ash of the tastemaker exceeds the maximum prescribed limits...hence the samples are sub-standard," Singh said.

Against the prescribed limit of one per cent, ash content was found to be 1.83 per cent in Ching's noodles, while in Foodles it was 2.37 per cent and in Soupy noodles it was 1.89 per cent, he claimed.

Notices were sent to all the three companies a week ago giving them a month's time to make an appeal, he said. But no comments were received from companies.

Further, Singh said the report did not mention the health hazards caused by ash content higher than prescribed limits. UP Food Safety Department in May last had found high lead content and presence of taste enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSG) in samples of Maggi noodles.

Later in June, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) banned Maggi noodles, alleging that the instant noodles were "unsafe and hazardous" due to higher than permissible lead content and presence of MSG.

Patanjali Ayurved, the FMCG venture promoted by yoga guru Ramdev said it has received notice from food safety regulator FSSAI, which had accused it of launching instant noodles without approval, reported PTI.

"We have received notice from FSSAI today and we will give reply to it," said a company spokesperson.

Last week Central Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had said Patanjali did not have approval for its newly-launched instant noodles but the company had strongly denied it.

Ashish Bahuguna, FSSAI Chairperson had stated that no approval or licence was granted to Patanjali for its instant noodles and for instant noodles companies needed to take prior approval. He had said Patanjali Ayurved have not taken approval for it.

However, Patanjali, strongly denied FSSAI's claims and insisted that it has licence for Pasta, under which noodles fall, as per the regulator's classification.

The company further said FSSAI has already admitted that it was no longer possible for the regulator to continue with process of product approvals, which was facilitated through an advisory in May 2013, following a Supreme Court order in August this year that upheld an order of Bombay High Court on the issue.

According to FSSAI's May 2013 advisory, food products covering a broad spectrum including "novel foods, functional foods, food supplements, irradiated foods, genetically modified foods, foods for special dietary uses or extracts or concentrates of botanicals, herbs or of animal sources" should apply for product approval.

The High Court had ruled that the advisory does not have any statutory backing but the FSSAI had approached the apex court against the verdict.

Patanjali had launched 'Atta Noodles' earlier this month in 70 gram packs priced at Rs 15, claiming to be cheaper than competitors, with an eye to take on market leader Nestle's Maggi, which returned to the shelves five months after FSSAI had banned it.

The Food Safety and Drugs Administration (FSDA) are keeping a close eye on the adulterated sweets and other food items consumed during Diwali for the city residents.

A team of five officials will conduct surprise inspections at shops in rural and urban areas to check adulteration and the sale of expired products, reported TNN. The anti-adulteration drive is set to continue till November 15.

"A five-member team of the food department is conducting regular checks by sending suspicious food items to the laboratory for testing. If any sub-standard or unsafe food item is found, the person will be dealt with as per rules," said JP Singh, chief food safety officer.

However, samples of the food items will be sent to Lucknow's food testing lab to avert any possibility of manipulation at the city-based lab, if the samples look too suspicious they will be sent to the latter and an immediate report will be sought. The reports from the city-based lab can be obtained in 48 hours and action can be taken soon after, adds Singh. The FSDA officials are also keeping an eye on milk, ghee, paneer and milk-based sweets, which they say are the main food items that are found adulterated. "The food items are preserved and sent to Lucknow by means of courier. The result will reach us within 20 days," said Singh.

Even the customers can file complaints related to food adulteration with the department anonymously. The sample may be submitted by depositing Rs 1,000 and if found adulterated, a complaint can be filed with FSDA officials. One can even test the food items at their homes as directed in the manual available at the FSDA office.

"We are focusing mainly on sweets, milk products and cooking oils to keep adulteration under control. Almost every year, people fall ill after consuming food items so we are making sure that no such incident happens this time," said Singh.