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Journalism of Courage
Take a look at the essential concepts, terms, and phenomena from the static and current parts of the UPSC-CSE.
Word: Food safety (Part II)
Subject: Polity, Governance and Economy
(Relevance: Prelims, GS II and GS III)
UPSC Essentials: One word a day- Food safety (Part I) covered general aspects of food safety according to WHO.
Quotes:
1. “Nation and nutrition are deeply connected and for a Samruddh Bharat, we need a Swasthya Bharat and for a Swasthya Bharat, we need Swasthya Nagrik.” – Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya on the occasion of World Food Safety Day, 2022.
2. “In India, food safety has obvious and direct linkages with the Swachh Bharat (Clean India) initiative of the Prime Minister. It also has linkages with government’s ‘Make in India’ campaign to realize India’s huge potential in the export of high value agricultural produce.”- WHO
What are the key highlights of 4th State Food Safety Index (SFSI)?
– Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on the occasion of World Food Safety Day on June 7, released the 4th State Food Safety Index.
– The 4th State Food Safety Index (SFSI) will help in providing safe and nutritious food to the citizens and indicates the efforts of States and the Union Territories in ensuring it.
– Starting in 2018-19, the SFSI aims of creating a competitive and positive change in the food safety ecosystem in the country.
– The report has been prepared by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to measure the performance of States across five parameters of food safety- human resources and institutional data, compliance, food testing facility, training, and capacity building, and consumer empowerment.
– This year, among the larger states, Tamil Nadu was the top-ranking state, followed by Gujarat and Maharashtra.
– On the other hand, among the smaller states, Goa stood first followed by Manipur and Sikkim.
– Meanwhile among UTs, Jammu & Kashmir, Delhi and Chandigarh secured first, second and third ranks.
What were the other highlights of World Food Safety Day in India?
– On the occasion of World Food Safety Day, the Union Minister launched the logo for ‘Ayurveda Aahar’. Ayurveda Aahar’s logo is meant to create a unique identity of ‘Ayurveda Aahar’ and aims to facilitate its easy identification. The logo contains the initials of Ayurveda and Ahara with 5 leaves symbolizing five elements of nature.
– Ayurveda Aahar refers to food prepared following the recipes or ingredients and/or processes as per methods described in the books of Ayurveda listed under ‘Schedule A’ of the regulations.
– The Health Minister also felicitated 11 winning smart cities of the Eat Smart Cities Challenge, launched by FSSAI last year in association with the Smart Cities Mission under the aegis of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
– He also felicitated winners of the Eat Right Research Challenge for Cities and Districts and Eat Right Research Awards and Grants.
– In addition to this, Dr. Mandaviya also launched various innovative initiatives by FSSAI including the Eat Right Research Awards and Grants – Phase II.
– Eat Right Creativity Challenge – Phase III, a competition at the school level
– Release of various e-books that advocate and capture innovative recipes about oil-free cooking and sugarless desserts.
– Launch of various resource books including Khadyanjali, a quarterly magazine published by the Rajbhasha Division of FSSAI; Guidance Document on Food-Borne Disease Outbreak Investigation and Microbiological Process Control, Sampling and Testing of Fish and Fishery Products etc.
What is FSSAI?
– Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is an autonomous statutory body established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (FSS Act). Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India is the administrative Ministry of FSSAI. Its headquarter is in Delhi.
– The main role of the authority is to regulate and monitor, manufacture, processing, distribution, sale and import of food while ensuring safe and wholesome food to the consumers. (Do not go in further detail)
What are the legislative frameworks of FSSAI?
– Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006 aims to establish a single reference point for all matters relating to food safety and standards, by moving from multi- level, multi-departmental control to a single line of command. The Act established FSSAI and the State Food Safety Authorities for each State.
– Food Safety and Standards Rule, 2011 provides for: Food Safety Appellate Tribunal and the Registrar of the Appellate Tribunal, food safety and standards on Organic Food and regulates Food Advertising. It covers Licensing and Registration, Packaging and Labelling of Food Businesses, Food Product Standards and Food Additives Regulation. It prohibits and restricts on sales or approval for Non-Specified Food and Food Ingredients, such ingredients may cause harm to human health.
(Just have a brief idea of the difference between the two. Do not spend much time on it.)
What are some of the important initiatives for food safety in India other than Ayurveda Aahar?
– Eat Right India Movement: to transform the country’s food system in order to ensure safe, healthy and sustainable food for all Indians. It is aligned to the National Health Policy 2017 with its focus on preventive and promotive healthcare and flagship programmes like Ayushman Bharat, POSHAN Abhiyaan, Anemia Mukt Bharat and Swachh Bharat Mission.
– Eat Right Station Certification: awarded by FSSAI to railway stations that set benchmarks (as per the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006) in providing safe and wholesome food to passengers.
– The Eat Right Research Awards and Grants: for high-quality research in the area of food safety and nutrition in India has also been launched.
– PAN-India survey for identifying the presence of industrially produced trans fatty acid content in the selected foods has been released.
– Effort to engage industries on the issue of plastic in food packaging: food businesses signed a pledge on becoming “Plastic Waste Neutral”. The aim can be achieved by collecting, processing and recycling of 100% post-consumer plastic waste from across the sources.
(source: pib.gov.in, fssai.gov.in)
