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Gaur stresses on tighter vigil on milk and newer standards at AFSTI meet
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Saturday, 21 January, 2012, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Irum Khan, Pune
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The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued advisories to food safety commissioners in the country on increasing vigil on milk adulteration cases in their respective states. This was also part of the agenda of the last CAC (central advisory committee) meeting of the body.
Elaborating on the issue, V N Gaur, CEO, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), pointed out that though milk adulteration had majorly to do with adulteration of milk with water, it could not be ignored. He was addressing a press conference held on Friday on the sidelines of the XXI Indian Convention of Food Scientists and Technologists organised by the Pune chapter of Association of Food Scientists and Technologists of India (AFSTI).
The survey on milk adulteration was part of the surveillance project undertaken by the FSSAI and in the future, other items would be brought under the scanner similarly. “We intend to take 3-4 items every year for conducting detailed survey across the countries for parameters of safety,” Gaur informed.
Along with that he mentioned about a number of different draft standards, which were currently in the pipeline and could see the light of the day in the coming months.
For instance, the draft regulation on labelling and claims will be prepared in three-four months’ time. This draft is particularly important in the wake of growing number of innovative products being produced in the country.
On other draft standards lined up for release, Gaur said they included a separate draft on functional foods, health supplements, nutritious food, and nutraceuticals. He informed that this draft was likely to be notified soon. Up till now, these food products were categorised as proprietary food, he informed.
Another stride for the Authority would be draft regulations for imported food items. “The draft on risk assessment for both imported and domestic food is ready,” Gaur informed. Further, a separate draft for categories of water like flavoured water will also be published by the Authority shortly.
Guar said the standards mentioned above would invite suggestions from public domain. One area which would take a major pie of the Authority’s attention would be street food. “We have the scientific community in the country consistently focussing on commercial exploitation of technology for packaged foods but we must not forget millions of street food vendors who produce and sell food on the streets. Street foods should have the stature of safe food. This requires involvement of multiple departments like the municipal corporations, PWD (Public Works Department), health department along with the food authority,” Gaur said. “Certain recommendations on street food will be evaluated in
public domain,” he added.
Focus on infrastructure would also top the Authority’s agenda over the next five years. In this regard, the Authority is looking to set up a risk assessment centre at Ghaziabad. This centre, according to Gaur, would be a hub for the surveillance work being currently carried out by the Authority and would focus on risk of assessment of indigenous products.
“India has a lot of traditional, Ayurvedic products and this centre would help cater to safety needs of such products. Till now we have been relying heavily on the data available from the West,” Gaur said.
On innovations, he said that though a lot of unique products were produced in India, the country still imported a large number of new molecules from abroad. “Perhaps over the years we have concentrated more on technology, engineering and applied sciences but did not pay much attention to basic science,” Gaur said.
Further that India tended to be too compartmentalised in its studies and the standards were more prescriptive. An interdisciplinary effort was needed. According to him,
nanotechnology for food was the best example of interdisciplinary effort where major research was derived from physics and chemistry.
Also, better testing methods for indigenous foods were needed. “As we are moving towards packaged food the methods of adulteration was also becoming more sophisticated. This needed faster, reliable and better methods of validations,” Gaur stressed.
Applauding the initiative of the AFSTI and alike in strengthening movement of food safety in India, Gaur said that a large number of issues have been resolved over the last few months and activities of the FSSAI have gained momentum post-implementation of the Act.
“The scientific panels and committees met more than 25 times in the last 6-8 months,” Gaur said. However, he pointed out a huge deficit in skilled human resource professionals. “Over the last five years the number of students passing out from food science, technology and engineering background have rose to 7,000 from 2,500. However, a huge requirement of food scientists and technologists in regulatory board was also needed. There are millions of food companies in India which need inspecting, auditing, analysis and other functions to be performed. Also, there is a mandatory requirement now for every company to have a qualified food technologist on board. This calls for more number of professionals in the segment.
Though the FSSAI has notified auditing agencies, the numbers were not adequate. “We need a huge number of people to perform jobs on behalf of regulators. Consultancy models will also have to be developed,” Gaur said.
“Since it’s not feasible for small companies to have separate qualified personnel for fulfilling regulatory functions we are contemplating putting a system in place whereby, even small companies would be able to get access to certified people. One method would be to have an online course completion, which could certify the person. Such a model for certified professionals is likely to come up this year.”
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