The Health Ministry is in favour of banning smokeless forms of tobacco which are being used by 25 per cent of the population and are known to contain chemical components with serious implications for human health. Answering a query on the sidelines of the launch of “Tobacco kills your baby”, a 30-second mass media campaign aimed at highlighting the ills of passive tobacco consumption, Keshav Desiraju, Additional Secretary, Health, said, “Smokeless tobacco contains toxic substances. Banning these forms is in the realm of what the Ministry wants.

Clarifying that gutka is a food product, the health ministry will soon issue instructions to the states against allowing use of tobacco-laced gutka or pan masala.

“It has now been established beyond doubt that gutka is a food product and falls under the Prevention of Food Adultration Law. The Supreme Court ruled in a recent order that gutka be treated as a food item. That being the case, its adulteration is violative of laws. Tobacco, which is an injurious substance, cannot be used in gutka,” Keshav Desiraju, additional secretary, health, said.

Officials sensitise owners, vendors to Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006

The Food and Drug Administration Department of Food Safety Directorate has fixed March 7 as the deadline for owners of roadside, small eateries and food vendors using pushcarts to fall in line with the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006 to ensure hygiene and food safety.

Manufacturers and traders of food items have appealed to the State Government to urge the Centre to defer the implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2011 (FSSA) for the next three years.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, the president of Tamil Nadu Foodgrains Merchants Association, S. P. Jeyapragasam, claimed that the FSSA would allow multinationals to open shop here, thereby affecting the small food manufacturers and traders.

Alarmed over the steep increase in obesity-related ailments in India, the Centre is planning norms for trans-fatty acid content in vanaspati oil by limiting it to 10 per cent and bring it down to five per cent in the next two years.

Along with this, the government also plans to introduce mandatory labelling providing information on saturated fat and trans fatty acids content on packs of vanaspati oil, hydrogenated vegetable oil, edible oil and other products containing TFA.

The All-India Food Processors Association (AIFPA) today approached the Delhi High Court, pleading that the court should hear them before passing any final order on a petition that seeks ban on carbonated beverages and junk food in school and college canteens.

The AIFPA, in its application filed before the division bench of Acting Chief Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw, sought to become a party in the petition filed by an NGO, the Uday Foundation.

If you wait a whole year to indulge your sweet tooth around Diwali, we’d suggest you check if your vision is 20/20. Make sure that you can see the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) certificate on display at the stores from where you buy your sweets.

According to the recently enforced Food Safety Act (FSA), any manufacturer, retailer, wholesaler or distributor of any perishable commodity needs to have a licence or has to be registered with the state wing of the FDA. And s/he will have to mandatorily display the FDA’s certificate for all consumers.

Sample unfit for human consumption, says lab report
The Haryana State Federation of Consumers’ Cooperative Wholesale Stores (CONFED) is under the scanner for supply of wheat, for mid-day meal in a Panchkula school, which was found ‘unfit for human consumption’.

The matter came to light on August 28, when teachers of Sarthak Government Integrated Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 12 A, suspected the wheat stock of being old and damaged and reported it to District Elementary Education Officer (DEEO) Anita Anand.