The Food Adulteration Act likely to be amended
As
a result of the cola controversy, the Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare has decided to move an amendment to the dated Prevention of
Food Adulteration Act, 1954.
The
Act, intended to protect the consumer against the supply of adulterated
food, would deal with all kinds of packaged food, including carbonated
drinks. It would also be applicable to items imported into India. The
amendments will be made on the basis of the recommendations of the Central
Committee of Food Standards, a standing committee under the Ministry
of Health. The ammended Act likely to be called the Prevention of Food
Adulteration (Amendment) Act, 2003, will bring about changes in Section
16. The words “Six months which may extend to 3 years and fine which
is not less than Rs 1,000” will be substituted with “1 year and 6 months
and even extending to term of life and with fine which shall not be
less than Rs 10,000”. The fines mentioned in different sub-sections
would also be increased and can even go as high as Rs 50,000, or the
entire income generated from the business. Another aim of the Government
is to upgrade the food-testing laboratories to ensure quality checks.
The committee report is likely to present a detailed formula for upgradation
and strengthening of the laboratories. The Health Ministry has also
ordered the Bureau of Indian Standards to revise their standard guidelines.
Drinking
water to come under the ‘food’ definition of PFA
The Union Government is likely to come out with an ordinance to bring
drinking water under the food category of the Prevention of Food Adulteration
(PFA) Act. “Until now drinking water was not defined as food and hence
there were no norms. The Government will come out with an ordinance
to bring drinking water under food. We will then set up a group of experts
who will work out the norms for groundwater and drinking water,” announced
Sushma Swaraj, Union Health Minister.
Significantly,
bottled drinking water has already been defined as ‘food’ under the
PFA, when the Health Ministry had issued a notification (2 years ago)
making it mandatory for all packaged drinking water to sport the ISI
mark. The effort to lay down these norms comes as an aftermath to the
controversy of pesticide residue in soft drinks, when both the cola
majors pointed out that soft drinks contained pesticides since its raw
material, groundwater, contained pesticides, Health Ministry officials
were quoted saying.
Indian
foods may be banned by the EU, says Apeda
According
to Apeda (Agriculture Produce Export Development Authority), India is
in the danger of being blacklisted by the EU, unless the quality of
its exports like meat products, fruits and vegetables improve and fully
conform to the EU’s stringent standards.
Of
late, Apeda has been getting an increasing amount of complaints from
the EU countries about high residues of pesticides and chemicals in
Indian products. It may be recalled that the EU had rejected some grape
and shrimp containers from India during the last financial year due
to high residues of pesticides and antibiotics in them. In order to
check the quality standards that the Indian producers follow and the
infrastructural facilities existing here, a high-level team from EU
is visiting India in the month of October. The team, which would visit
Andhra Pradesh also, would check the production facilities of products
like poultry meat and eggs, the Apeda officials revealed.
Rs
250-cr impetus for food processing infrastructure
The government has given a green signal to a Rs 250-crore infrastructure
development scheme for the food processing industry. The scheme envisages
creation of food parks and packaging centres, taking up modernisation
of abattoirs, setting up of integrated cold chains, and a provision
of irradiation facilities. (Turn to pgs 44-45)
Creation
of food parks would enable small and medium scale units to attain viability
by defraying the cost of major facilities such as cold storage, warehousing,
power and water supply. Hygiene in meat and poultry products would also
get adequate attention through modernisation of abattoirs and establishment
of an increasing number of cold chains, which will reduce wastage of
perishable material. Irradiation facilities would result in longer shelf
life of various agricultural products and the centres would be integrated
into the value chain.
Waste
from a Coca-Cola plant heavy with toxic chemicals
A recent BBC study has found toxic chemicals in the waste products from
a Coca-Cola plant in India, which the company was providing as fertiliser
for the local farmers. Dangerous levels of the carcinogen cadmium have
been found in the sludge produced from the plant in the southern state
of Kerala. However, Coca-Cola India Vice-President Sunil Gupta denied
that the fertiliser posed any risk. “We have scientific evidence to
prove it is absolutely safe and we have never had any complaints,” said
Mr Gupta.
A
BBC correspondent visited the plant following complaints from villagers
that water supplies were drying up because of the massive quantities
of water required by Coca-Cola. Villagers, politicians, environmentalists
and scientists have accused the firm of robbing the community of the
area’s most precious resource. As part of the probe, the sludge samples
were sent to the UK for examination at the University of Exeter. The
lab’s senior scientist, David Santillo, said: “What is particularly
disturbing is that the contamination has spread to the water supply
– with levels of lead well above those set by the World Health Organisation.”
According to Britain’s leading poisons expert, Professor John Henry,
consultant at St Mary’s Hospital in London, immediate steps should be
taken by the authorities in India to ban the practice.
Movement
of trucks carrying grains for exports banned
The
Government has banned all movement of trucks carrying food grains for
exports in order to stop illegal sale of subsidised wheat in local markets.
As a result of this ban, even exporters who already have release orders
to pick up wheat from FCI (Food Corporation of India) godowns will no
longer be allowed to do so.
Officials
say the ban on truck movement has become important because a few unscrupulous
exporters are allegedly selling off subsidised grain meant for exports
in the northern markets of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, where prices are
much higher. The wheat FCI sell to exporters is far cheaper than the
prevailing market rates, thus offering a window of opportunity to unscrupulous
traders. For traders, a problem is that rail rakes – the obvious alternative
– are still a rarity, with a waiting list of at least three months.
Tata
to introduce new food additives and products
Tata
Chemicals is aiming to launch food additives, introduce cheaper brands
and create a mini FMCG company by first re-inventing the flagship Tata
Salt brand.
However,
before it adds new products, Tata Chemicals is seriously overhauling
the way it sells its staple profit-earner: Tata Salt. More importantly,
the company is hoping to help the consumer move up the value chain by
starting with cheaper Tata brands first. Tata Chemicals has now become
the first national player to enter the lower end of the market with
a cheap crystal salt, Samudra. The brand is being test-marketed in Tamil
Nadu and will eventually be taken to West Bengal as well.
Dairy
major Ballantyne to set up unit in India
Ballantyne
Foods, the Australian dairy and food ingredient major, is planning to
open shop in India to cater to their huge customer base in the Southeast
Asian markets.
The
Indian unit will initially start off as a logistics centre with warehousing
and distribution facility. The company is concentrating on the food
flavour, food colour and cheese powder range of food ingredients for
supply to the Indian biscuit industry. It is already supplying to Britannia,
Parle and PriyaGold.
Ballantyne
is also targeting the mini-butter product segment to be packaged in
plastic tubs instead of the conventional foil packing prevalent in Indian
markets. This
product category is designed for the airline and hotel catering industry
and is expected to attain a quick growth in the country.
Mother
Dairy coming to Mumbai
The
Rs 1,200-crore Delhi-bred cooperative, Mother Dairy, is planning to
hit Mumbai, the second most lucrative milk market after Delhi, early
next year. As
a run up to the launch, Mother Dairy is scouting around to buy a milk
processing and packaging plant in the city. But
before that, the cooperative wants to establish its brand in the North.
By the year-end, Mother Dairy will take its brands of butter, dahi,
ice-cream, flavoured milk to Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal
Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Jammu & Kashmir.
Chocolates
via SMS – a treat from Cadbury and BPL
Cadbury
India in association with BPL Mobile and E Cube India have launched
a SMS-enabled chocolate vending machine. With over 30 of these user-friendly
machines placed at select congregation points in Mumbai, Cadbury chocolates
are now only an SMS away for over 7 lakh BPL mobile users in the city,
claims the chocolate major.
E
Cube has provided technical solutions for this alliance. BPL mobile
subscribers can buy a Cadbury chocolate while the payment is reflected
in the monthly bill or directly deducted from the available balance
from a pre-paid card. Mobile Operated Vending Machines eliminate the
problems associated with coin-operated machines, namely insufficient
coins and lack of adaptability with Indian currency notes.
