Key Developments:
News updates:
FSSAI extends licence deadline to Feb 4, The Hindu Business Line, 7 July 2015
Food safety regulator FSSAI on August 6 extended the deadline for food companies to get a license to run their businesses by another six months, to February 4, 2016
The decision has been taken after the Union Health Ministry considered representations from various stakeholders, including food companies and industry associations. The industry has been demanding an extension of one year
As per the Food Safety and Standards regulations of 2011, no person or food business operator can commence any food business unless he or the operator possesses a valid license
Have gut feeling Maggi will return to retail shelves soon, says minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Firstpost, 7 July 2015
Consumer affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Thursday said he was hopeful that Nestlé’s Maggi can be back on the shelves soon, drawing from the test reports that have come in now regarding the safety of the top instant noodles brand from some accredited laboratories
Paswan made it clear that consumer interest will be paramount while deciding on the matter pertaining to the ban on Maggi, while also expressing concern over the negative perception such developments have created in the minds of the potential foreign investors
State FDAs product approval system bringing back inspector raj: Food companies, The Economic Times, 6 July 2015
In a meeting with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, food companies have expressed their concern over the product approval system that FSSAI currently has
The food companies said that the product approval should be restricted to new ingredients and novel items only
The issues raised at the meeting involved an overlap between the Food Safety and Standards Act regulations framed for broad food categories and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) norms for food on an item-to-item basis, the nature of the advisories issued by the FSSAI, which have no legal standing and are not consultative
Officials in the Health Ministry, under which FSSAI functions, declined to comment on the meeting, though there is an understanding
that the Ministry of Food Processing, PMO and other ministries want issues related to food safety and standards to be resolved at the earliest
Lessons from the Maggi Controversy, The Economic Times, 6 July 2015
In an editorial in ET, the publication has taken a stand that the food processing industry needs education on the procedures to be followed to demonstrate compliance, trace the sourcing of ingredients and maintain paperwork
It has also been recommended that the government invest in ensuring better quality fuel available across the country so that food
processing plants in close proximity of highways do not absorb harmful chemicals
Food safety should not be a point of conflict between the food processing industry and the FSSAI and instead it should be a unifying
platform
FSSAI issues release to clarify that it gave no clean chit to Maggi, The Times of India, 6 July 2015
It is clarified that the FSSAI has not given any clean chit regarding the safety of Maggi noodles Some of the Maggi samples were sent for testing to the Food and Drugs laboratory of Goa by the Goa Food Safety Department where the food analyst that had taken the permissible limit of lead as being 10 parts per million for the “tastemaker” as against the maximum permissible limit being 2.5 parts per million
The Goa food regulatory authorities sent a portion of the testing to CFTRI, Mysore where lead was found to be within permissible
limits bit were not tested for MSG, according to the FSSAI
Overall, the FSSAI has asserted that the tests carried out by the Food regulatory authorities of Goa have no bearing on the June 5
recall order
FSSAI-approved lab finds Maggi noodles safe, The Times of India, 5 July 2015
In a major boost to Nestle India, FSSAI-approved laboratory of Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) has found Maggi noodles to be in compliance with the country’s food safety standards
Goa FDA Director, Salim A. Veljee confirms that CFTRI finding shows that the samples are in compliance with the food safety standards as per the Food Safety and Standards Rules, 2011
18 per cent of food samples tested found to be adulterated,’ The Business Standard, 5 July 2015
Around 18 per cent of the food samples tested for violation of food safety standards in past three years were found to be adulterated, according to proceedings held in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday
In a written reply, Health and Family Welfare Minister J.P. Nadda said that out of 69949, 72200 and 60548 food samples analysed during 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15, respectively, 10380 (14.8 per cent), 13571 (18.8 per cent) and 12077 (19.9 per cent) samples were found to be adulterated or misbranded
Furthermore, J.P. Nadda has said that all Food Business Operators have to ensure testing of relevant chemical and/or microbiological contaminants in food products in accordance with these regulations as frequently as required
Haldiram snacks safe, no lead, bacteria: Maharashtra FDA, The Times of India, 4 July 2015
After a month after the US FDA banned the import of Haldiram snacks over alleged lapses in food safety standards, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday gave it a clean chit
Haldiram snacks were tested for the presence of lead, sand particles and bacteria; the lead in the samples is found being well within permissible limits and the test for sand particles has come out negative
The content of carbohydrates and fats was also within limits
New import norms on the anvil for US chicken legs, The Hindu Business Line, 4 July 2015
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India is setting new import norms on chicken leg pieces from the USA, which may come into effect in six months
There is a fear of cheaper US chicken leg pieces flooding the market due to the use of genetically modified feeds for the poultry, such as corn and soyabean as genetically modified crops are banned in India
Large scale imports from the US will bring the unorganised poultry industry to its knees as it already faces many challenges such as high feed prices
Bring brand ambassadors under consumer law: CAIT to Ram Vilas Paswan, The Financial Express, 3 July 2015
Amid the Maggi noodles controversy, trader body CAIT has requested Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan to bring brand
ambassadors under the ambit of the Consumer Protection Bill, 2015, which was approved by the Cabinet last week
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), in a letter to the Minister, said that the brand ambassadors should be included as Service Providers since endorsements by them are made primarily with an aim to push the sales of a product
The brand ambassadors will come under the ambit of Product Liability, which is a new chapter of the Consumer Protection Bill, 2015
Nestlé India reassessing brand Maggi, The Hindu Business Line, 3 July 2015
Nestlé India has said that it is reassessing the various aspects of Maggi product and there is a process of internalization of learnings as a result of the controversy
The company will also be looking at reducing overdependence on one product and besides Maggi, it will also focus on increasing growth in other product categories such as dairy, coffee and beverages, chocolate and confectionary and nutrition
FSSAI raids reveal food adulteration, The Hindu , 3 July 2015
Operation Ruchi has been in full force in the state of Kerala, which is a crackdown on eateries, including hotels that are in
violation of the food safety norms
The most crackdown as a result of the implementation of Operation Ruchi has been a temporary closure of two hotels at Charummodu and a soda-making factory at Kayamkulam, as ordered by the officials of the FSSAI
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