TO KNOW MORE FACTS ABOUT THE CHILLI POWDER AND GHEE YOU USE-By Concert

உணவு பாதுகாப்பு அலுவலர் ஆய்வு-தினகரன் செய்தி

பண்ருட்டி, :பண்ருட்டி அருகே கண்டரக்கோட்டையில், அண்ணாகிராமம் வட்டார உணவு பாதுகாப்பு அலுவலர் கந்தசாமி, மளிகை, பெட்டி கடைகள், ஓட்டல்கள் ஆகியவற்றில் ஆய்வு மேற்கொண்டார்.
இதில் காலாவதியான புகையிலை, பாக்கு, குளிர்பானங்கள், டீ தூள் ஆகியவற்றை பறிமுதல் செய்தார். தரமான பொருட் களை மட்டுமே விற்பனை செய்ய வேண்டும், இல்லையென்றால் நடவடிக்கை எடுக்க நேரிடும் என எச்சரித்து நோட்டீஸ் வழங்கினார்.

Indian cuisine incomplete without street food

 

No story on Indian cuisine can be complete without the inclusion of street food, says celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor.
“Indian cuisine has three important parts – home food,restaurant food and street food. Indian street food reflects the country’s ethos and also mirrors the ever changing needs of the Indian consumer, be it the man on the streets or the one living in an ivory tower,” says Kapoor.
The chef is the celebrity face at the sixth edition of a four-day National Street Food Festival organised by NASVI (National Association of Street Vendors of India) that began here at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium complex.
“As a child, eating street food was something you indulged in without adult supervision. During those glorious ten minutes of a school recess, I indulged in the usual chats, sherbets and ice golas. I try to make them at home and try out a classic street food as well!” says the chef.
The chef, who hosts his own television show, says he is very excited to take a look at the innovative dishes which will be an integral part of the festival this year.
Delicacies such as Ragra Pattis from Mumbai, fish curry and sandesh from West Bengal, non-alcoholic Konkani drinks from Goa, Litti Chowkha and Tash Kebab from Bihar and other innovative dishes are slated to be on the menu at the street food fest.
“Street food festivals are always a good idea because it is the best way of promoting this cuisine. This will create awareness and will expose people to street food from across the country,” says Kapoor.
Shedding light on the importance of health and hygiene associated with street food, the celebrity chef is of the opinion that street food is healthy and hygienic since it is always served hot.
“There is a lot of debate on the safety of Indian street food. There are many who believe that street food of India is many times safer than those served at restaurants!
“It is shocking but this statement is supported by the fact that street food is cooked for the day and served hot on the spot,” says Kapoor.
Breaking out of the usual format of just organising a festival, NASVI has also organized a mass training program on food safety and hygiene of more than 1000 roadside chefs who are participating at the festival.
“With street food there is no monitoring of ingredients used. It is not just about the freshness but also whether or not the colours used are safe for consumption, whether the food is stored in an area free of contamination from insects, animals and dangerous bacteria.
There is a lot here to be regulated and regularized, a mammoth task considering the number of hawkers and food vendors in every lane of the country,” says Kapoor.
Urging vendors to serve hygienic food to patrons, the culinary expert says there is need for strict food laws but not at the cost of the appeal of the street delicacies.
“Yes, there should be hygiene and other laws related to safety of food in place, but with these laws the charm and the raw appeal of street food shouldn’t suffer. I would request the vendors to look into the quality of ingredients, do not compromise on the health of patrons. Do not serve anything that you wouldn’t serve your own family!” says Kapoor.

Coca-Cola’s ambitious plan to introduce fruit juice-blended fizzy drinks hits regulatory hurdles

 

IBA, which represents Coca-Cola & PepsiCo, has written to food processing ministry, highlighting certain challenges on behalf of the first company.
NEW DELHI: Coca-Cola’s ambitious plan to introduce fruit juice-blended fizzy drinks by early next summer — in the wake of PM Narendra Modi urging soft drink makers to do so — has hit regulatory hurdles.
The Indian Beverage Association (IBA), which represents Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, has written to the food processing ministry, highlighting certain challenges on behalf of the first company.
The rules stipulate that the addition of minimum 10% fruit juice or pulp (5% in the case of lemon) is required under the carbonated fruit beverages category. But "addition of this level of fruit juice leads to product instability and also requires a higher level of preservatives to ensure safety and stability of the beverage," the letter said, a copy of which ET has seen. IBA also wants the existing minimum requirement for 10% of total soluble solids in carbonated fruit drinks to be revised to 3%.
"Besides regulatory restrictions, Coca-Cola has also raised the need for quicker product approval," an official directly involved with the matter said. IBA said the Food Safety &Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) "needs to make product approval more efficient".
The note said wide-ranging changes were needed to make the PM’s suggestion a reality.
"The usage of fruit juice in carbonated beverages is restricted due to current standards specified in the (FSSAI) regulations." According to the IBA, the "addition of fruit juice in carbonated drinks is possible subject to certain changes in the existing regulatory framework". These "modifications would have to be made in the regulatory framework operative under the Food Safety and Standards Act," it said.
In September, Modi had suggested that 5% of fizzy drinks be blended with fresh fruit juice sourced from local farmers.
"We drink Pepsi, Coca-Cola. I am not asking for much — if 5% of juice from fruits produced by our farmers is added, the farmer will not be forced to search for a market to sell. A single decision can ensure billions of rupees of trade," Modi had said.
The maker of Thums Up cola and Minute Maid juices wants its product to be on the shelves by early summer to gain first-mover advantage besides winning over health-conscious consumers.
Colas have, from time-to-time, drawn criticism from around the world for contributing to higher calorie consumption. Though the category returned to double-digit growth in the July-September quarter due to warm-weather conditions, this may not be sustainable, according to industry experts.
Since formulations are closely guarded secrets and changing them for existing brands is impossible, Coca-Cola is working on a series of juiceblended fizzy drinks variants on a priority basis.
A Coca-Cola spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.
IBA said pesticide residue rules are also too stringent. Carbonated water using fruit juice would not be able to meet the standard of 1 ppb (part per billion) prescribed for the category.
Besides this, the preservative cap also needs to be bumped up, it said. "Using a microbiologically sensitive ingredient such as fruit juice will need higher allowance of preservatives to ensure the beverage is stable over its desired shelf life."
In the US and some European markets, Coca-Cola sells a caffeine-free, citrus-based, calorie-free aerated soft drink called Fresca. Its Glaceau Fruitwater brand is a fruit-flavoured, sparkling water in the US but doesn’t contain fruit juice.

Paan kiosks sell bootlegged beer

 

The bottles come without any manufacturer address and no one can guarantee the quality of the drink.

A kiosk at Sarai Kale Khan displays Kingfarmer beer, a locally made alcoholic beverage sold under no supervision and without taking a licence from the concerned government department.

Visit Sarai Kale Khan and you may just come across Kingmiller, Kingfarmer, Borg 100 and Haywards 500 at any regular kiosk selling soft drinks and chips. Sounds familiar? Well, they are the cheaper versions of popular beer brands Kingfisher, Tuborg and Haywards 5000 and are easily available in this corner of Delhi.

When The Sunday Guardian visited the area, at least 15 such kiosks were selling beer packaged in bottles that resembled the bottles belonging to well known brands like Tuborg and Kingfisher, but the content inside these bottles have been made at local breweries located on the outskirts of the city.

These beers are produced and not sold under any government supervision and without taking any licence from the concerned government department.

According to one of the shopkeepers selling these beers, the local liquor is mostly supplied by bootleggers from Bawana in North West Delhi and was made for the consumption of the "low-income group".

Dissuading this correspondent from buying the beer, the shopkeeper said that he was not going to take any guarantee of the quality of the beer. These beer bottles were being sold for Rs 60-70 and with a little bargaining the price could go down to Rs 40-50.

Ironically, despite the presence of a posse of policemen, who were patrolling the exit of the Nizamuddin railway station and a police chowki in the vicinity, none of the sellers made any efforts to hide the beer bottles that were openly displayed at the kiosks and the stalls to gain the maximum attention of the numerous passers-by.

According to one of the auto drivers, Ramesh, such beer was generally bought by the migrant labour as everyone else was aware that "fake" beer may some day result in a hooch tragedy. "There is no address of the manufacturers on the bottles and I am sure that no rules are followed during its manufacturing. The local shops sell these beers as they are offered a huge margin by the manufacturers and they do not have to take any permit from the excise department to stock the beer", he said.

Another auto rickshaw driver said that they (auto rickshaw drivers) do not buy these beers because of safety reasons.

"We do not know what is mixed in it. I once tried one of these about two years back and after that I fell ill for four days and was hospitalised. Ever since, I never buy them and also ask my passengers not to buy these beers", he said.

On being asked about these beers, officials from the excise department said stocking and selling of beer can only be done after taking the permission from the department and only those beers are allowed to be sold where proper licence has been taken from the government.

The officials added that they were not aware of the sale of such beer and promised action including confiscation and destruction of such beer.

It should be noted that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), an agency of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, regulates food safety norms in the country and is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety.

Drive against milk adulteration in Srinagar

 

SRINAGAR: A team of Food Safety Officers of Drug and Food Control Organisation headed by Assistant Commissioner, Food Safety, district Srinagar intercepted various milk suppliers at Pantha Chowk and collected as many as 10 samples for analytical purposes.

Some milk suppliers were directed to change the containers in which milk is being ferried and to use only containers made of food grade material. They were further directed not to supply skimmed milk or any other kind of milk other than cow or buffalos milk otherwise action as warranted under FSSA will be initiated against them.

In addition 100 quintals of maida, which was carried in two load carriers was seized from two food business operators. The same was without the labeling requirements prescribed under FSSA. Samples of same were lifted for analytical purpose.

In the meanwhile, Assistant Commissioner Food Safety Srinagar has directed road side food vendors to keep the articles of food properly covered and protected from dust otherwise action under relevant provisions of law will be taken against them.

‘Show cause notice must before sealing food units’

 

The Designated Officers under the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006 cannot seal a business premises without issuing a show cause notice and conducting an enquiry into alleged violation of the legal provisions, the Madras High Court Bench here has said.

Justice M. Venugopal made the observation while issuing an interim direction to the Designated Officer in Virudhunagar district to unseal a private firm involved in the trade of coriander powder (Dhania). The building was sealed on December 17 on a charge of violating food safety rules.

Agreeing with the petitioner’s counsel, R. Gandhi, that sealing the premises all of a sudden would deprive the owner as well as the workers of their livelihood, the judge said it was essential to follow the principles of natural justice in every matter that might lead to civil consequences.

“The affected/aggrieved party should be given prior notice, fair opportunity of hearing and also if need be a personal hearing… If any of them is found to be absent or wanting, then it is a clear case of arbitrariness, capriciousness and negation of principles of natural justice,” he added.

The judge also pointed out that in the present case, the Designated Officer’s December 17 order did not indicate that a prior notice was issued to the petitioner before sealing his firm on the basis of an inspection of the premises and collection of samples of coriander on the same day.

In his affidavit, the petitioner, N. Pugazhraj, contended that the FSSA authorised the officers only to seize the food consignment, and not to seal the entire business premises, if an analysis of the food samples showed signs of violations of the food safety rules.

Centre to issue guidelines asking airlines and airports to maintain hygiene

 

IGI Airport

Taking A cue from recent outbreak of diseases like swine flu and Ebola, the Union health ministry has placed Indian airports and airlines on radar for sanitisation and quality of food and drinks they serve.

The ministry has come up with the Indian Aircraft (Public Health) Rules 2015 that would soon be notified in the Indian Gazette. The rules will be forwarded to all the airlines and airports.

The central government will designate a National International Health Regulation (IHR) focal point for the implementation of these stringent health measures. A task force to deal with public health emergency of international magnitude or any other infectious disease would also be constituted.

The ministry has brought airports within the fold of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. The move would ensure that the airport health officer would not only carry out health screening of travellers, but also supervise hygiene levels in the premises.

The health officer at the airports would supervise and coordinate with the concerned agency to ensure that facilities used by the travellers are hygienic. The office would ensure safety of potable water supplies, cleanliness of public wash rooms, appropriate liquid and solid waste disposal facilities. It would also ensure infectionfree surroundings," said Anshu Prakash, a joint secretary in the Union health ministry.

"The supervisor will also provide technical guidance to the concerned agency for disinfection and decontamination of baggage, cargo, containers, aircraft or conveyances, facilities, goods and postal parcels and human remains as appropriate," he said.

Health Minister JP Nadda

The rules will also be applicable to the airlines who will have to provide, prior to arrival, passenger manifest and information regarding illness or death on board and any health measures applied on board. A strict inspection of all the aircraft containing hazardous material will be subject to inspection.

"At the airport, the buildings, places used by travellers shall be required to be equipped with suitable equipment and all the necessary measures shall be taken to maintain the public places free from all kinds of vectors, including mosquitoes," said Prakash.

The ministry has clearly said that all the food outlets within the airport or flight kitchens will have to get licence by the airport health officer or such other appropriate authority in accordance with the provisions contained in The Food Safety and Standards Act 2006.

"Drinking water and food provided at the airport or on the aircraft must be maintained in hygienic condition. Service provider will have to ensure mandatory microbiological testing of drinking water quality at the source and submit regular reports to the airport health officer. The airport health officer will verify such reports to ensure the safety of water," said Prakash.

"Food suppliers from outside airport premises will be required to submit a copy of Food Safety Licence in respect of the outlet from the concerned designated officer of the outlet to the airport health officer," he said.

The food which is found unhygienic, adulterated and unsafe for human consumption will be discarded. The authorities may also order for closure of any such food establishment and drinking water source.

There are penalties under the rules too. Whoever contravenes any provision of these rules, or disobeys, or fails to comply with any order given in pursuance of these rules, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or with fine which may extend to Rs.10,000 or with both.

சீல் வைக்கப்பட்ட கொத்தமல்லி தயாரிப்பு நிறுவனத்தை திறக்க உத்தரவு

மதுரை, டிச. 26:

சீல் வைக்கப்பட்ட கொத்தமல்லி தயாரிப்பு நிறுவனத்தை திறக்க ஐகோர்ட் மதுரை கிளை உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளது.

விருதுநகர் மாவட்டம், பெரியவள்ளிக்குளத்தை சேர்ந்த புகழ்ராஜ், ஐகோர்ட் மதுரை கிளையில் தாக்கல் செய்த மனு:

நான், சமையலுக்கு பயன்படுத்தும் கொத்தமல்லியை சுத்தம் செய்து பாக்கெட்களில் அடைத்து விற்பனை செய்கிறேன். கடந்த டிச. 17ம் தேதி விருதுநகர் உணவு பொருள் பாதுகாப்பு அதிகாரிகள் எனது நிறுவனத்தில் திடீர் சோதனை நடத்தினர். கொத்தமல்லி தயார் செய்வதில் குறைபாடு உள்ளதாக கூறி, நிறுவனத்துக்கு சீல் வைத்தனர். என்னிடம் எந்த விசாரணையும் நடத்தவில்லை.

கொத்தமல்லி மாதிரியை எடுத்து உணவு பகுப்பாய்வு செய்து குறைபாடு உள்ளதா என்பதை கண்டறியவில்லை. அப்படி குறைபாடு இருந்தால் நிறுவனத்தில் இருக்கும் உணவு பொருட்களை மட்டும் சட்டப்படி ஏதாவது ஒரு அறையில் பாதுகாப்பாக வைத்திருக்க உத்தரவிட வேண்டும். அப்படி செய்யாமல் நிறுவனம் செயல்பட முடியாதபடி சீல் வைத்திருப்பது சட்ட விரோதம். எனவே, எனது நிறுவனத்துக்கு சீல் வைத்த அதிகாரிகளின் நடவடிக்கையை ரத்து செய்து, திறந்து விட அதிகாரிகளுக்கு உத்தரவிட வேண்டும்.

இவ்வாறு மனுவில் கூறப்பட்டிருந்தது.

மனுதாரர் சார்பில் வக்கீல்கள் ஆர்.காந்தி ஆஜரானார். மனுவை விசாரித்த நீதிபதி எம்.வேணு கோபால், “சீல் வைப்பதற்கு முன் அதிகாரிகள் நோட்டீஸ் அனுப்பி விசாரணை நடத்தி இருக்க வேண்டும். அவ்வாறு செய்யாதது, அரசியல் அமைப்பு சட்டம் வழங்கியுள்ள வாழ்வுரிமையை பறிப்பதாகும். எனவே, மனுதாரரின் நிறுவனத்திற்கு வைத்துள்ள சீலை அகற்றி அதிகாரிகள் திறந்து விடவேண்டும். மனு குறித்து விருதுநகர் உணவு பொருள் அதிகாரிகள் பதில் மனு தாக்கல் செய்யவேண்டும்,” எனக்கூறிய நீதிபதி ஜன. 8ம் தேதி விசாரணையை தள்ளி வைத்தார்.