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Journalism of Courage
Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal has accused the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India of being “the big elephant in the room” of the industry and “creating an environment of fear” — the first attack on the food safety regulator since it ordered the recall of Maggi noodles and banned its production and sale early last month.
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“There is nothing extraordinary in what FSSAI has done in the past one month — and it isn’t even equipped to do anything. It has very little presence in the field. It does not lift samples. The Maggi order was necessitated after state after state reported something wrong with it. FSSAI is a policymaking body, it only frames standards, and that is what it is doing,” said an FSSAI official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The regulator has spent June doing what it has mostly always done — inviting comments from the industry for a host of draft regulations as part of the consultative process, and waiting for responses. These include regulations regarding limits of heavy metals in food, standards for dried/salted fishery products, limits of biotoxins in fish and fish products, and standards of melamine in milk and milk products. It also commissioned a study on consumption patterns of energy drinks.
Some product specific orders FSSAI has issued over the last month:
June 8: Food safety commissioners in states were advised to lift samples of all 33 approved brands of noodles, pasta and macaroni to check whether they were adhering to prescribed standards. A list of the parameters set for these products was annexed.
AFTERWARD: Nissin voluntarily withdrew its Top Ramen noodles until such time as it gets product approvals. A host of products are in the market despite having applied for, and in some cases, not got, approvals from FSSAI.
June 11: No-Objection Certificate to Restless energy drink was withdrawn after the scientific panel ruled that the combination of caffeine and ginseng was “irrational”, because they have opposite effects on the body.
AFTERWARD: The product is not very well known. But energy drinks are a burgeoning market, and the glare of scrutiny may have caused some alarm.
June 18: 11-member committee of experts constituted to frame guidelines on permissible levels of salt, sugar and fat in Indian foods. It will advise FSSAI on their current and safe levels of intake, and health risks of high intake.
AFTERWARD: Most developed countries prescribe safe levels of salt, sugar and fat in foods. Indian guidelines, rather than those imported from the West, are essential if India is to have a food regulatory infrastructure suited to Indian diets.
