Halal meat more tender, less cruel, say experts. Even as the UK Parliament refuses to servehalal meat at restaurants on its premises, fresh scientific opinion suggests halal is the better option. TOI investigates.

For Mohammad Salim, owner of a tiny meat shop in the Gurdwara Road Market of New Delhi’s Kotla Mubarakpur area, business is just as it’s been for the last 15 years since he moved to the capital from Agra. There seem to be more takers for mutton that Sunday morning than for the fresh batch of Rohu that’s just arrived. The practising Muslim packs half kilo curry pieces of a leg of mutton in polythene. For this seller of halal meat, the recent debate over the UK parliament rejecting demands to serve halal meat in its restaurants, on grounds of cruelty, is pointless.

“We read a kalma (Quranic verse) before the meat is cut. Lekin, marta toh murga hi hai (Finally, it’s the animal that pays the price). It’s just a question of using different methods of slaughter,” he shrugs.

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The Expert’s Thought: There are innumerable health benefits of eating meat. It serves as a fabulous source of high quality proteins, which a single vegetarian food is not able to provide. It contains all the essential amino acids that the body requires.

After the scary New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1 or the “superbug” was detected two years ago, the world is now faced with the community-acquired methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (ca-MRSA) bacterium that is resistant to almost all common antibiotics.

In India, where poor hygiene and the availability of over-the-counter antibiotics lead to development of resistance, an estimated 100 to 200 million people are reportedly already carriers of these virtually unbeatable killer bacteria. The killer bugs have also reached England, presumably through medical tourists who travelled to India for cosmetic surgery, and reportedly already infected several hundred people. A few cases have also turned up in Germany.

The bacterium has become a serious health threat in the United States. India had protested the naming of the superbug after New Delhi and denied its presence then. Now, the ca-MRSA is all set to raise another storm.

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The Expert’s Thought: Scary Incident.

Several farmers returned dejected from foodgrain markets without selling their crops on Friday after foodgrain traders throughout the state went on a three-day strike to protest against the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006.
As many as 247 foodgrain markets in the state remained closed as the Rajasthan Khadya Padarth Vyapar Sangh (RKPVS) called for a three-day bandh. Edible oil and pulses mills too remained shut. RKVPS said business around Rs 8,000 crore has been badly affected owing to strike.

In Bharatpur, tea sellers and retailers kept their shops closed. In Jaipur, foodgrain markets in Surajpole mandi, Deenanathji ki Gali and wholesale dealers of tea joined the strike.

The loss includes daily sale of oilseeds (mustard, soyabean, groundnut, sesame) worth Rs1,500 crore, edible oil worth Rs 800 crore, pulses Rs1,200 crore, foodgrains Rs1,500 crore and dry spices worth Rs1,500 crore. Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006 was implemented in the state in August 2011. However, from January 1, the state made it compulsory for foodgrain traders to procure licence from the medical, health and family welfare department, and that too with an increased fee.

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The Expert’s Thought: Strike called for small reasons is very disappointing and at the same time there is lot of money loss and hence authorities  should   look forward to avoid it.

A food safety officer has been suspended and three others were transferred after a report revealed that an unlicensed catering firm had served meals to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other VIPs during the recent Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.

Flight catering company Sky Feast, which had served meals to the VIPs at the Sanganer airport, was operating without food licence, a mandatory requirement under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. “AIR India had given the contract to serve the food to the catering company. Our food safety officers were deputed to take samples of the food to check its quality. The hotel was not having the food license and the officers did not take care of it, which is a negligence on their part,” an officer of the state medical and health department said.

Deputy secretary (medical and health) Sunil Kumar Sharma in two separate orders issued on Friday suspended Shree Ram Mishra and transferred three officers – Sandeep Agrawal, Sandeep Agrawal and Rajesh Tinkar.

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The Expert’s Thought: Unfortunate Incident. It’s so inappropriate that the PM was served by unlicensed firm. The Governmental officials seem to be so careless.

Should gutka be categorised as a “food product” and banned, or should it be regulated? Differences over the issue have surfaced within the health ministry, which, confused, is approaching the law ministry to get a final opinion.

While the new rules of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, an autonomous body under the health ministry, say “anything that is food and contains nicotine or tobacco must be banned”, another section of the health ministry feels that as per the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products Act of 2003 (COTP), there should be regulation, and not a complete ban.The COTP Act suggests regulation of trade and commerce, production, supply and distribution of gutka.

Officials say a ban on smokeless tobacco products was never thought feasible because the industry employs a large number of people and it would affect their livelihood. Incidentally, the FSSAI’s new rules prohibit tobacco being used as an ingredient in any food product. However, with the COTP Act talking merely about regulation, the states have refused to adhere to the FSSAI notification.
“There is a contradiction. While our act lists gutka as an item which needs to be regulated, the FSSAI calls for a total ban.

We have now asked the law ministry to clear the confusion and take a final call,” said a senior health ministry official. Statistics show that nearly 0.9 million deaths occur in India every year due to tobacco-use compared to 5.5 million deaths worldwide. According to the recent Global Adult Tobacco Survey, out of the 35 per cent of adults in India that use tobacco in some form or the other, 21 per cent use smokeless tobacco, nine per cent smoke and five per cent smoke as well as use smokeless tobacco.

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The Expert’s Thought: Many people believe, wrongly, that chewing tobacco is a safe alternative to smoking. However this is hardly the case as the body suffers from multiple adverse health effects of tobacco. Recent studies have shown that chewing tobacco is not a safe alternative to smoking tobacco.

A food safety officer has been suspended and three others were transferred after a report revealed that an unlicensed catering firm had served meals to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other VIPs during the recent Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here. City-based in flight catering company Sky Feast from where the food was served to the VIPs was operating without food licence, a mandatory requirement under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. The tenth edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention was held here from January 7-9. “AIR India had given the contract to serve the food to the catering company. Our food safety officers were deputed to take samples of the food to check its quality.

The hotel was not having the food license and the officers did not take care of it, which is a negligence on their part,” an officer of state medical and health department said today. Deputy Secretary (Medical and Health) Sunil Kumar Sharma in two separate orders issued yesterday suspended Shree Ram Mishra and transferred three officers — Sandeep Agrawal (son of K M Agrawal), Sandeep Agrawal (son of K L Agrawal) and Rajesh Tinkar — from Jaipur to Sirohi, Hanumangarh and Doongerpur, respectively. “When the matter came to my knowledge on January 11, the hotel authorities claimed that Mishra demanded a bribe of Rs 10,000 to settle the matter following which I initiated an inquiry against him. Serious allegations were levelled against him.

Mishra was suspended by the government as the matter is under investigation,” Chief Medical and Health Officer (Jaipur-II) Yatindra Singh said. Singh, himself, has been served a notice over the entire episode as the four erring officials worked in his office.

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The Expert’s Thought: Unlicensed catering and caterers fails to comply with the hygiene and Food safety standards and hence license is must. Moreover, the license is an authentication of the reprehensibly of the firm and the caterer.

The merchant community in Madurai has termed the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 as detrimental to the interests of farmers and self-help groups in its present form and urged the Centre to postpone the enforcement of the Act.

Hoisting the tricolour to mark the Republic Day, S P Jeyapragasam, president of the Madurai-based Tamil Nadu Foodgrain Merchants’ Association said the Act that has come into force from September last year would curtail farmers’ opportunity to sell products at remunerative prices. “According to the Act, farmers who grow the food products and traders are liable for action for deficiency in the products. The deficiency in quality of agro products due to changes in weather should also be taken into account,” he said.

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The Expert’s Thought: The act is meant to provide better food safety standards for the industry rather than curtailing the livelihood of an individual farmer.

Giving a clean chit to all leading milk suppliers here, the city government today told the Delhi High Court that no sample of milk was found having material injurious to health.
“No sample of milk was found having detergent, added urea, neutraliser or any other material injurious to health,” said Delhi government counsel Zubeda Begum to the bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw.

Claiming that milk suppliers have followed the prescribed standard under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, the counsel added “no survey sample of milk in Delhi lifted and analysed by the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) was found deficient in fat or solid not fat as prescribed by the Act.”

Earlier this month, taking suo motu cognisance over a news report that 70 per cent of milk samples lifted from the national capital were found contaminated, the bench had sought the city as well as central government’s response.

In its reply, the lawyer told the court that the Department of Prevention of Food Adulteration had held a meeting with the suppliers, including Mother Dairy, DMS, Amul, Paras and other dairies, which have assured the government to take all steps not to supply substandard quality milk in the market.

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The Expert’s Thought:  Its a complete white lie. Contamination testes have proved the adulteration in the milk.

The Karnataka Milk Federation, on Tuesday, launched eight new products of Nandini brand – Vermicelli Payasam Instant Mix, Processed Cheese Spread (Plain, Pepper and Capsicum), Matka Kulfi (Pista), Cassatta Ice Cream, Fresh Cream, Chocolate Burfi, Coconut Burfi, and Diced Paneer at a prize distribution function organised for winners of Nandini talent hunt competition.

The competition included drawing and music for higher primary and high school children at district level through the district milk unions. The state level competition was held at KMF central office for district level prize-winners. The prize distribution function was organised for the state level winners where the first prize was Rs10,000, second prize – Rs 7,500 and third prize – Rs 5,000.

The occasion also saw Dr V Kurien, father of Indian dairy industry, being felicitated by Karnataka chief minister D V Sadanandagowda who also inaugurated the event and addressed the gathering. Also present were G Somasekara Reddy, chairman, KMF, and MLA, Bellary city; along with the board of directors of KMF, presidents of district milk unions, and Dr M N Venkataramu, MD, KMF.

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The Expert’s Thought: Product Innovation and new product development is an integral part of the Food Industry. R&D should be given high priority for this purpose.

Inculcate hygiene habits in your kids if you do not want them to visit an ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat) surgeon or any other specialist for stomach related problems.

The school health programme data compiled for the year 2010-2011 shows that Ahmedabad kids tops the state in ENT and stomach related problems.

More than 1.5 crore school students were checked under the school health programme in 2010-11. District-wise numbers of students having different ailments have also been indicated.

Public health experts say non-serious ailments like stomachache and problems related to ENT may be linked to hygiene and children’s food habits.

Of the total 87,124 students diagnosed with ENT related problems, 15,221 students, which is 17% of the total students diagnosed, are from schools within the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) limits. It includes private schools as well.

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The Expert’s Thought: You have probably had a problem with your stomach at one time or another.Indigestion and heartburn are common problems. You can relieve some stomach problems with over-the-counter medicines and lifestyle changes, such as avoiding fatty foods or eating more slowly. Other problems like peptic ulcers or GERD require medical attention.

Restaurants, cafeterias, supermarkets and caterers who have failed to appoint a “person in charge” of food safety and hygiene are being fined up to Dh2,000.

Thousands of food outlets were told last year that they had to send a manager or supervising staff member for municipal training by the start of this month.

“We have started issuing fines between Dh500 and Dh2,000,” said Asia Al Raeesi, the head of food planning and studies at the municipality.

Penalties were an effective way of ensuring staff were trained and certified, she said.

More than 7,000 staff from more than 4,500 outlets have already been trained but the municipality estimates there are more than 10,000 food businesses in the emirate.

“People are catching up but they wait for the fines. Only after they get the fine, do they start,” said Ms Al Raeesi.

The municipality did not reveal how many offenders had been fined.

Municipality inspectors will also give outlets a 25-point checklist for avoiding food poisoning that they are expected to begin using this week.

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The Expert’s Thought: Heavy penalization would ensure better food safety check and lesser incidents of Adulteration, food poisoning. Even the  consumers  can achieve the concept of VFM (Value for Money)

A three year feeding study has shown no adverse health effects in pigs fed genetically modified (GM) maize. The maize, which is a Bt-maize bred for its insect resistant properties, was sourced from Spain

The results were one of the key findings of trials conducted as part of the GMSAFOOD consortium undertaking post market monitoring: long term, generational and food chain studies to test food safety.

The research team conducted short-term (31 days), medium-term (110 days) and generational pig feeding studies where the health of piglets of sows fed Bt-maize is measured. No adverse effects were observed, suggesting that feeding Bt-maize to pigs of different ages is safe.

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The Expert’s Thought: GMO food is a major issue in a  country like India. They are still in a grip of ethical, social and legal Issues. There should be interaction between researchers and people about GMO foods, so that they can e properly educated.

It was a bitter Pongal for 123 sanitary officers/sanitary inspectors/food inspectors of nine Corporations and all municipalities who have been absorbed by the State Government as Food Safety Officers (FSO).

For, ever since they were diverted from the services of the local bodies to the State Government in November, they have been denied their salary for the last two months.

These FSOs have been made to run from pillar to post by the heads of a few departments and even after the lapse of two months there seems to be little hope for them in getting their salary at the earliest.

Among them, eight are from Madurai Corporation.

They were relieved from their posts in the Corporations (other than Chennai city) following a communication from the Commissioner of Food Safety, Chennai.

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The Expert’s Thought: Sad News for the Inspectors

The issue of milk adulteration was in limelight after a national survey found that 68% of the tested samples were of sub-standard quality. Experts point out that loose milk is more susceptible to adulteration. However, information received under the Right to Information (RTI) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Maharashtra revealed that not a single sample was drawn from Mumbai and other major districts of the state for testing from April 2005 to March 2009.

Mumbai-based consumer activist AR Shenoy, filed an RTI application in July 2009 to find out the measures taken by the state FDA to keep a tab on unscrupulous milk adulterators from 12 districts of the state.

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The Expert’s Thought: RTI is an eye opener in terms of Food Safety Issues. The steps taken by the Government are none yet they have promised for the effective actions against adulteration.

Wishing all the people in INDIA a Happy Republic Day. Lets this day mark the expression of National ans Emotional Unity