FDA approval mandatory for food exports to US
Under the new Bioterrorism Act, to be effective in US from December 12, 2003, exporters of processed food, marine food, and agro-based food and all domestic and foreign facilities that manufacture, pack, process, distribute, receive or hold food for consumption by human or animals in the US will have to register themselves with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As a part of the Bioterrorism Act, the US has already published four proposed regulations pertaining to the registration of food facilities, prior notice of imported foods, shipping and maintenance records among food firms and the administrative procedures related to the detention of foods. According to Praveen Gupta, General Manager, Apeda (Agriculture Produce Export Development Authority), “ The changes in the FDA rules should be welcomed and Indian exporters should register under the FDA as it helps induce greater transparency.”

India’s fish farms to be inspected by EU experts
A team of experts from the European Union would be visiting India to check the quality controls in place at the fishing and aquaculture farms in the country. In the first phase, the EU team will check fishing farms, seafood testing laboratories, feed mills and seafood processing plants at Kochi, Nellore and Chennai. The EU experts’ visit follows the rejection of a number of Indian seafood consignments by various European nations in the last 1 year due to the alleged presence of antibiotic residues and traces of heavy metal, especially in fish and fish products. According to the Ministry of Food Processing, the EU team will, therefore, check for residue and hazard analysis at India’s food processing plants. Under the new regulations of the EU nations any container of seafood found testing positive for chloramphenicol, the banned drug residue, would be destroyed completely. With each container of seafood valued at around Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million), this move has badly affected Indian seafood exports to the EU. In this context the EU team’s visit to India would be significant as it would give the team first hand knowledge of the various quality control measures that the Indian seafood exporters need to take.

Worm scare: Cadbury to introduce new packaging
Just months after the presence of pesticides was reportedly detected in bottled water another major controversy rocked the Indian food industry when a batch of Cadbury chocolates was reportedly found to be infested with insects. What followed was another round of allegations and counter-allegations being hurled on Cadbury India, while the company’s sales took a beating in the festive season. Preliminary investigations by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), Maharashtra revealed the presence of worms in the chocolates. Cadbury, on the other hand claimed that its chocolates were manufactured under strict hygienic conditions but improper storage by retailers might have caused some of them to get infested. Following FDA’s suggestion to package its product differently and to gain back consumer confidence the company has decided to change the packaging of its chocolates. The consumer scare is believed to have seriously impacted sales of the nation’s leading chocolate bar. As of January 2004, the packaging for Cadbury’s Dairy Milk bars will be completely changed, creating what the company says is an impenetrable wrapper. Although the move is in direct response to the allegations of infestation, the company continues to deny that its production methods at the Indian facilities are of anything but the highest standards and that there is "absolutely" no way that such an infestation could occur.

Peta unveils footage of alleged cruelty to chicken
The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), an animal rights group, unveiled a video footage featuring the cruel manner of poultry handling in an Indian farm, which supplies to Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). The 10-minute video showed chickens stuffed into overcrowded warehouses, plagued by deformities caused by genetic engineering, breeding and overfeeding, and suffering at the hands of callous workers at the Venkateshwara Hatcheries based in Pune. While unveiling the video, Ingrid Newkirk Director Peta, said the footage directly contradicted KFC’s claim that it strictly adhered to animal welfare standards. "The air inside these filthy barns reeks of ammonia fumes making it difficult for the birds to breathe," she said. Based on the findings Peta has launched a new campaign for the closure of the fast food firm The group wants an end to the unsupervised genetic engineering of chickens, scalding and cruel human handling and reportedly KFC killed more than 800 million chickens every year around the world and in most of the hatcheries the birds are genetically engineered to grow faster. "Due to this they suffer from heart attacks and have painful crippling injuries as they become top heavy and cannot bear the weight of their bodies. They also cut off their beaks by hot wire," said Ms Newkirk.

Maharashtra to promote wineries as profits double
Realising the profits in the wine business India is making a serious attempt to cash in on the global trend. Maharashtra being at the centre of the wine business of India, producing as it does, 80 per cent of the grapes in India, has already announced its promotion strategies. "Already the state government has reduced excise duties on wine production by 50 per cent for wineries," said VS Dhumal, Principal Secretary, Industries, Maharashtra. Until recently, Maharashtra had three established wineries – Sula, Indage and one at Baramati. "In the last one year six more have come up, spread across Solapur, Nashik and Sangli. And they are doing exceptionally well," said Patangrao Kadam, State Minister for Industries. In order to give a further boost to the sector, a wine research institute is being set up at Palus, near Pune. "It is a multi-crore project and we are finalising details with a French wine institute who will provide us with the technological know-how," said Mr Kadam. The wine institute is going to act as the specimen model for establishing wineries in the state. The institute is expected to be functional by the middle of next year. The state government is planning to bring down a viticulturist to educate the farmers.

Amul plans to strengthen its presence in Delhi milk market
Amul, the most popular brand of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), is striving towards strengthening its foothold in the liquid fresh milk market of Delhi, hitherto the domain of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). Apart from increasing capacity at the leased Ballabgarh dairy unit, GCMMF has also decided to set up a new 5 lakh litre per day (LLPD) dairy plant with an investment of Rs 40 crore in Haryana to cater to the northern market. Encouraged by the initial response to its fresh milk launch in the capital, GCMMF has also decided to go for a second phase of capacity expansion at the Ballabgarh unit. The milk capacity of the unit has already touched 60,000 litres per day (LPD) and the plan is to take it to 1.5 LLPD. The 40 (LLPD) liquid milk market in Delhi is currently dominated by Mother Dairy (18 LLPD), with the other organised sector brands such as Paras (3 LLPD), the state-owned Delhi Milk Scheme (2.5 LLPD), Gopaljee (1-1.5 LLPD), Parag (80,000 LPD) and Britannia (30-40,000 LPD) being way behind.

McCain Foods to set up potato plant in India
Canadian food major McCain Foods will set up a 15,000 tonne potato processing plant in Gujarat at an initial investment of Rs 40 crore. The investment in the facility would be increased in phases in the next 5 years to Rs 300 crore. The company also plans to increase the capacity of the plant to 100,000 tonnes of potato. McCain is the world’s largest French fries and appetisers company with annual sales of over $6 billion, 55 food plants in 15 countries and products marketed in over 120 countries

Hotels can charge more than MRP, rules Delhi High Court
Hoteliers around the country breathed a sigh of relief when the Delhi High Court stayed the order of the Centre and gave a go-ahead to the hotel and restaurant industry to charge more than the maximum retail price (MRP) mentioned on the products.
Major hotel and restaurant chains had moved the court earlier this year, complaining about the Centre’s move to enforce a ban on charging more than the MRP. The hotel and restaurant industry started facing problems on the MRP issue after the centre decided to enforce a ban on charging more than the MRP for the packaged food. “We have been able to obtain a stay order from Delhi High Court on our writ petition on selling packaged products like bottled water, soft drinks, cigarette and other packages in hotel and prices at prices not higher than the MRP,” said Shyam Suri, Secretary General, Federation of Restaurant and Hotels Association of India (FHRAI).

Flavoured drinking water from Coke on the cards
With the success of Kinley its packaged drinking water brand – the cola major Coca-Cola India is looking to expand its market share in the packaged drinking water business estimated at Rs 1,200 crore in India. The company is planning to launch flavoured packaged drinking water in the country in the next 2 years. Coca-Cola may go for launching packaged drinking water in different flavours such as lemon, peach and others. “This market has a lot of potential and we feel that packaged water in India is treated more like a life-giver to many people. We are now also into the bulk packaged water business under the same brand and the market is going to expand very fast for all the players,” said Sanjiv Gupta, CEO, Coca-Cola India. In the present estimated Rs 1,200 crore-packaged drinking water market in India, Kinley, according to Coke, holds a stake of 37 per cent, while Bisleri, holds a 33 per cent market share.

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