Indian state chief calls on Nestlé's assistance

28-Sep-2012

The chief minister of Haryana, yesterday called on Nestlé India to adopt a collective strategy with the government departments and private business to set up milk collection centers across the state.

Bhupinder Singh Hooda asked the multinational dairy company to work with Haryana’s animal husbandry department, its dairy federation and companies in the private sector to combine their efforts to make the production and distribution of milk and dairy products more efficient and sustainable.Hooda made the comments while inaugurating the second unit of Nestlé’s Samalkha plant in Panipat district, saying that such a move would be present a win-win situation for farmers and investors.

The multinational company has already been working closely with farmers across the state to show them how technology and new farming methods can increase productivity and milk quality in a sustainable manner. The chief minister praised this approach and paid tribute to Nestlé’s Global Health Kids programme, which had been working with local schools to impart greater knowledge about nutrition to village children.He added that the Nestlé expansion, which cost around Rs 600 crore, would prove beneficial not only for Haryana, but for the entire country.

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Indian brands gaining most social following

By RJ Whitehead, 25-Sep-2012

India’s domestic food and beverage brands have been growing their fan bases at a much faster rate than their global counterparts over the last year, according to research by Ketchum Sampark.

Grouping together brands from inside and outside the country and then quantifying the number of online “fans” from Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter each side could boast, the study revealed that the F&B segment has been growing at a rate of over 11% for local brands, compared to just under 3% for international brands.While the pace of growth has been swift in the F&B category, it is still outpaced by the rise of domestic travel and tourism (15.5%), technology products (15.4%) and automobiles (12.8%).

Getting engaged

The study also found that domestic F&B brands recorded an almost five-times better engagement rate through social media than incoming international players, with 5.6% versus 1.2% respectively. 

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2,500 daily visitors, 140 exhibitors make Annapoorna World of Food memorable

Friday, September 28, 2012 08:00 IST 
Abhitash Singh, Mumbai

The 7th edition of Annapoorna World of Food India organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in association with Koelnmesse at Bombay Exhibition Centre here is a big hit among importers, distributers, traders and retailers from the food and beverage industry.

The three-day event, which will wind up on September 28, 2012, is witnessing around 2,500 visitors daily from the food and beverage industry. Around 140 exhibitors from 15 countries are participating in the exhibition.

Rajiv Kumar, secretary-general, FICCI, informed, “Annapoorna World of Food India series of exhibitions have created a platform for strategic alliances and foreign investment in India. The previous year exhibition has been immensely successful and I am confident that the 2012 exhibition edition shall further accelerate this momentum by attracting large number of trade visitors from the modern retail sector, importers, buying agents, manufacturers and distributors. Visitors from many countries are visiting this event benefiting the exhibiting companies.”

G Vamshidhar, assistant general manager, Koelnmesse, said, “All kinds of food and beverage producing companies are participating in the exhibition. We are having country pavilions from Germany, Turkey, Korea, Sri Lanka, Spain and also a theme pavilion on European food. Big time retailers like Reliance, Metro, HyperCity and More are the part of the exhibition. The best part is that we are getting around 2,500 visitors daily. All the importers who are coming for this event have a better purchasing power.” 

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FSSAI CEO Mohanty emphasises on risk-based approach to food regulation

Friday, September 28, 2012 08:00 IST 
Akshay Kalbag, Mumbai

Food regulation is not a one-sided affair, and it is imperative to migrate from a hazard-based system to a risk-based system, according to S N Mohanty, chief executive officer, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

Mohanty was delivering the keynote address on Thursday at the two-day Federation of Indian Chambers of Chambers and Industry (FICCI) Food World India 2012, the sixth global convention for food business and industry.

"When a risk-based approach is adopted, inspection will become prioritised. To put it simply, the regulatory authorities across India urge food business operators (FBOs) all over the country - estimated to be about 5 crore now and likely to double in the next two or three years - to up their guard. There is no dichotomy between the regulators and the FBOs. Co-production will be the keyword. Both will have to be on the same page. The onus of self-regulation and compliance will now be on the FBO," he said.

He further said, "It wouldn't be possible to migrate seamlessly to the risk-based approach without making sure that the FBOs have noted that it applies to both products seeking import clearance and those which will be sold in the domestic market, and risks are of two types, namely inherent risks and controllable risks."

Uniformity in licensing is another aspect the chief of the country's apex food regulator dwelled upon. He said, "Bundled licensing software, which enables the process and the product to be along the same lines, is being rolled out for each state, because it would be impossible to streamline the process without computerising it. The data available online is inadequate, and that has held the sector back for a long time. Moreover, the ability to create standards is also limited. With the passage of time, all the provisions of the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act, 1954, will be repealed, so the inadequacies will be ironed out, and import control will also become smooth."

Product approval has not been clearly defined under Section 22 of the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006 and Regulations, 2011, which came into effect on August 5 last year. Genetically-modified foods await notification. The onus for food safety is not on the FSSAI but on the FBO, according to Mohanty.

"Obtaining a no-objection certificate may take some time because the product available in the market is not necessarily safe and may have to undergo preliminary scrutiny. Certain minimum checks are mandatory," Mohanty said, adding that the nutritional matrices will be taken into consideration while determining the type of scrutiny. Some foods may just have a quick pass-through, while closer scrutiny will become mandatory for others.

He spoke about proprietary foods, a term rapidly gaining currency now, but from the perspective of the apparent ambiguities. It encompasses novel food, food additives, and functional foods. As for traditional foods, he said, "In India, the main issue hindering their approval is inadequate resources, including manpower."

Since it is a science-based process, an obvious drawback is the fact that there isn't enough laboratory infrastructure. "There are 60 National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL)-accredited labs, and another 55 are being set up currently. By the end of the Twelfth Plan, there will be about 200 labs. In addition, there will be 70 intermediate labs, and 30 referral labs."

Among the proposed scientific panels, according to Mohanty, are panels dedicated to fisheries and spices (the latter being a category in which there is immense potential for export growth). There is a proposal to set up a national food science body, whose primary objective is risk analysis. "The licensing regime, the food safety management system (FSMS) plan and safety audit are interlinked," he said.

"There is a huge communication gap. The modernisation and strengthening of laboratories is the need of the hour, and the Centre has earmarked funds for this purpose. There should be an orientation programme for the industry by the industry," Mohanty concluded.

The second half of the session was a panel discussion on the industry's expectations of the Act. The panelists were M M Chitale, vice-president, Association of Food Scientists and Technologists (India) [AFST(I)]; Raji P Srivastava, food safety commissioner, Punjab, who spoke about the implementation of the Act and the industry's expectations; A S Upadhyay, joint director, export inspection agency, ministry of commerce and industry, Government of India, whose topic was quality control and food safety audits under FSSAI for domestic and international trade; J Padmaja, member, scientific panel for methods of analysis and sampling and assistant director, National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad, who spoke about how FSSA encourages safety and innovation; and S N Bhat, food regulatory affairs manager, Nestle Pvt. Ltd, who spoke about the approval of additives (drawing pointers from the Food Code). 

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US rejects India's basmati exports due to pesticides, price falls 23.5%

Monday, September 24, 2012 08:00 IST 
Archana Aroor, Mumbai

Exports of basmati rice to the US, one of the key buyers of the Indian variety, have been hit due to presence of excessive pesticide residues bringing down the export price of the grain by 23.5 per cent. 

India had faced a similar situation last year but that time it was due to the presence of khapra beetle in the export consignments. 

Speaking to FnB News, a source from the All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA) revealed, "The export price of basmati fell from Rs 52,718 / tonne in 2010-11 to Rs 40,381 / tonne in 2011-12 and non-basmati from Rs 40,849 to Rs 11,586. Thus a fall of 23.5 per cent and 71.6 per cent respectively"

An official from the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) confirmed, "The trade with US has been hit hard after several US consignments were rejected due to banned pesticide traces, recently."

The official, however, added that this was not the first rejection and that the issue was being discussed for a year. The USFDA (United States Food & Drug Administration) had rejected basmati shipments to the US after identifying around eight chemicals in different consignments due to traces of pesticides namely bavistan, isoprothiolane and tricyclazole.

He explained, "We have been discussing this issue with the USFDA and trying to solve the problem as it hindered the trade and also it was notable that the pesticide traces found in basmati were not merely in legal compliance with the US and not because they were harmful for human consumption."

According to him, tricyclazole is a widely used pesticide in many rice growing countries like India, Thailand, China and Japan and that basmati rice was mainly exported to the Gulf countries. While the European Union and Japan allow minimum residue levels (MRL) of as high as 1 and 3 parts per million (ppm), the US pesticide residue norm is 0.01 ppm. 

He added that the presence of tricyclazole in basmati grain was within the level of 0.02-0.04 ppm set by the Indian government and also in tune with the WTO (World Trade Organisation) standards.

Meanwhile, the AIREA source informed, "The exporters were now pre-testing their produce and exporting. Also efforts have been made to see if the exporter could make some modification in the processing which would reduce the residue. However, extensive research and discussions with scientists concluded that there was no post-harvest means of residue reduction."

Nevertheless, the problem had been discussed with bodies such as USFDA and FDA, Delhi, and setting up a screening mechanism was stressed.

According to AIREA, it is only the farmer who can control the presence of residue by following GAP. There was a need to emphasise that the farmer had to use pesticides properly if he did not want his produce to be rejected by the exporter. It meant that the farmer had to spray the pesticide before flowering and not after harvesting.

Further, "A committee would be set up from Punjab and Haryana and other states in the country to look into the situation soon," he pointed out.

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FAM opposes FDI in retail move; calls for Maharashtra bandh on Sept 20

Wednesday, September 19, 2012 
Abhitash Singh, Mumbai

The Centre's decision to allow 51 per cent FDI (foreign direct investment) in multi-brand retail is being strongly opposed by the Federation of Associations of Maharashtra (FAM), the apex body of over 750 trade, transport and small-scale associations. FAM gave out details on why it was opposed to the new policy at a press conference held here on Tuesday.

Mohan Gurnani, president, FAM observed, "We traders are being targeted and not only the traders' community but the Government of India is misleading the nation by claiming that FDI will change the face of retail trade in the country. In fact it will destroy the very fabric of small retail trade."

He added, "14th September, 2012, will go down in the history as the saddest day for retail trade in the country. The government's decision to permit FDI in retail will prove to be disastrous for the small street corner retailers."

As for the government's claims on new jobs, he questioned, "The government says that FDI in retail will provide better rates to farmers and consumers and it will generate employment opportunities for more than one crore people. But what about the jobs of five crore people who are associated with the retail market?"

Gurnani further stated, "We are not happy with the Government of India's highly unfortunate move with regard to FDI in multi-brand retail. As an action plan we have given a call for Maharashtra bandh on September 20, 2012, which will coincide with the All-India bandh organised by major political parties and trade associations across the country."

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Farmers' body backs Centre's decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail

Wednesday, September 19, 2012 08:00 IST 
Our Bureau, New Delhi

The Consortium of Indian Farmers' Association (CIFA) has written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh thanking him for the Centre's decision to permit 51 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.

"We strongly believe that FDI will go a long way in benefiting the agricultural community at large, and at the same time it would fetch a better price for cosumers and streamline the 'farm-to-fork' supply chain, thus reducing food wastage," P Chengal Reddy, secretary-general, CIFA, said.

He said the growth of the farm sector was hampered because of the lack of modern technologies, inadequate investments and restricted market prices. Singh spearheaded the liberalisation of the Indian economy in 1991 to propel India's tertiary sector to become globally competitive.

"However, to achieve the status of world economic power, the agriculture sector has to be liberalised so that the farming sector becomes globally competitive and India's development is holistic," said Reddy.

He added, "The FDI policy will help curtail wastage, which amounts to about Rs 1 lakh crore every year. As of now, the post-harvest facility of pre-cooling, cold storages, transporting by reefer vehicles is virtually absent."

"Understanding the consumer preference for quality parameters by the farmers and arranging forward and backward linkage by the result is a win-win situation for producers and consumers," Reddy said.

He said, "The FDI, which will enable huge investments and technologies, will help all the five lakh villages have infrastructure, trained manpower and other facilities. This will further enable contract farming, which provides assured price and also price discovery mechanism."

"We fondly hope than the 1,000 varieties of Indian mangoes, litchi, bananas, custard apple, BPT rice, Durram wheat will find market throughout the world. And while we appreciate your farm sector liberalisation policies, we request that similar initiatives be taken in sugar, cotton, rice and wheat," he concluded. 

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Crackdown on junk food in canteens

Sakshi Budhraja, TNN Sep 16, 2012, 12.00AM IST

Students might have to go back to eating mummy ke haath ke paranthe in school if the Centre's ban on junk food in canteens is implemented.

Carrying that lunch box to school, the insides of which are slowly turning pale yellow, is so, so not cool - at least that's what Delhi's school kids think. And with chips, patties and plates of hot spring rolls drawing you to the school canteen, who wants to sit in class during break and eat the paranthas your mom packed for you early morning? However, if the Centre's attempt to ban junk food in school canteens is successful, the wide range of goodies available across that counter may soon become a thing of the past. Here's what the students have to say about the 'canteen stuff'...

For me, the most un-cool thing you can do is carry a lunch box to school. I would do it when I was a kid, but now that I am in senior school, I'd rather hang out with my friends in the canteen during lunch break and buy food from there; stuff like patties, chips and a soft drink.
- Sahaj Bhadwar* DPS (Mathura Road).

I like ghar ka khana, but it's embarrassing to carry a tiffin box to school. I end up eating from others' lunch boxes and from the canteen as well. So, I get the best of both. The spring rolls in my school canteen are really good; I usually eat that and get myself a juice along with that.
- Abhishek Sharma , Class XI, DPS (Dwarka).

Sometimes, it's difficult for my mom to wake up earlier than usual just to pack me some food for school, so she gives me some money instead. I buy myself something to eat from the canteen in school. On days when I'm not too hungry, I get myself a soft drink and a packet of chips, and on the rest of the days, rolls are a good option.
- Shikhar Mathur, Class X, DPS (Dwarka).

I'm not really for carrying a lunch box to school and our school canteen isn't all that great either. So I carry an apple or something from home and maybe buy myself a packet of chips or a patty from the canteen and I'm fine with just that. I can wait to eat proper khana once I get home.
- Shraddha Kochchar, Class XI, Modern School.

Our canteen guy changed recently. Earlier we used to pig out on samosas, patties and other fried stuff, but now there are healthy options available in school. We get sandwiches, boiled veggies, etc, and instead of fizzy drinks, there is juice and milk. I'm glad about this, because had we continued eating all that fried food, we'd be heading the American way as far as junk food consumption goes.
- Anuj Ahlawat, Class XII, Navy Children's School.

Lunch time favourites
Spring rolls
Chips
Patties
Samosas
Chicken rolls

Official speak
About the junk food ban, Preeti Agnihotri, official spokesperson for FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) said, "We have initiated this idea to ban junk food in schools in India and the AC Nielsen Company for Development of Guidelines is helping us frame the guidelines. It is due to a concern about the children's health. The process is still underway and we'll implement it once the guidelines are set. Once it's implemented, we intend monitoring it closely."

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