Himachal HC orders complete ban on junk food items, wafers and Kurkure in state

Ashwani Sharma : Shimla, Thu Dec 26 2013, 19:58 hrs

In a landmark judgment, the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Thursday cleared the decks for a complete ban on sale of potato chips, wafers, kurkure and all other junk food-items packed in non-biodegradable and plastic material. 

The ban would come into effect from January 26, 2014.

The court also vacated its stay on the notification issued by the department of Science,Technology and Environment on June 26, 2013 imposing ban on sale, storage, entry, supply and manufacture of these items in the state.

It directed the government to strictly enforce the ban on these non-essential packaged food items, which however will not include drinking water - both packed and mineral.

The order was passed by a division bench comprising Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice V K Sharma which while hearing the petition filed by some dealers and manufacturers of these items challenging the government's notification.

The court directed the government to ensure that the edible oils/fats shall not be sold in the plastic bottles or pouches and shall be packed in tin containers. Also, from March 31, 2014, the milk and milk products along with edible oils, fats, fruits and vegetables and meat products will be manufactured, transported, sold, packaged and distributed as per regulations of the Food Safety & Standards (Packaging & Labelling) Regulation, 2011, the court ordered.

Passing specific directions for the enforcement of the food regulations, the bench ordered the state government to ensure that from March 31, 2014 onwards, no food stuff including primary and essential food is manufactured, transported, sold, packaged and distributed without conforming to the Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006 and Food Safety & Standards (Packaging & Labelling) Regulation, 2011.

The Court also directed the state to appoint a food commissioner, if not already appointed, within four weeks. It also directed the government to ensure that no person is permitted to commence or carry on any food business without obtaining license.

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Delhi HC issues contempt notice to FSSAI for not complying orders

PTI Dec 1, 2013, 12.09PM IST

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has issued contempt notice to Food Safety and Standards Authority of India for not complying with its orders to decide a health drink manufacturer's plea for NOC.

Justice V K Jain has sought the response of FSSAI on the contempt application moved by Trevo India Pvt Ltd and also directed the authority to decide the company's plea for 'No Objection Certificate' (NOC) by December 5 and convey the decision immediately to Trevo.

Justice Jain expressed displeasure over FSSAI's non-compliance, saying the authority had neither challenged the high court's earlier orders, nor sought extension of time to decide Trevo's plea, nor complied with the court's directions.

"You did not challenge the high court order, you did not seek extension of time and you also did not comply with the high court's orders. Issue notice of contempt," he said.

The court had earlier ordered FSSAI to decide Trevo's plea for NOC by November 25.

The counsel appearing for FSSAI said the company's plea had been forwarded to the authority's scientific panel which will require more time to decide the matter.

Trevo, which makes health drinks, contended that its product is recognised and being used in various countries and as per FSSAI's guidelines, any such product needs to be sent to the authority's scientific panel for grant of NOC.

It claimed that its product was lying with customs and could not be released till it received the provisional NOC.

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EU seeks clarification on India’s new hard-line labelling regulations

By RJ Whitehead,27-Nov-2013

The EU's ambassador to India, Joao Cravinho

The European Union’s ambassador to India has written to the government there in a bid to clarity its packaging regulations after around 200 tonnes of imported cheese, chocolates and other food items were blocked under the Food Safety and Standards Act.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India halted the import on labelling grounds, in that pasting information stickers on packs is now not sufficient under new regulations.

While companies often use stickers on imported products to specify certain details that are mandatory in India, such as if the items are vegetarian or non-vegetarian, the food regulator is now insisting that all nutritional information should be printed on packs before they are shipped to the country.

Non-tariff barriers?

“The food safety concerns are legitimate. We have no issues about that. We need to find a manner in which these issues can be addressed, without prejudicing trade. Otherwise, these could constitute non-tariff barriers,” Ambassador Joao Cravinho said in his note.

The FSSAI, the regulatory agency under the health ministry that supervises import of food items to ensure quality, has this month started to take a hard-line on its labelling regulations, which came into force in 2011. 

"Why should they have stickers? Stickers are temporary measures. When our [regulations] are clearly laid out, companies must print them on the packs that are to be shipped to the country," one official told Business Standard. 

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Rs 1,000 cr processed foods stuck, but importers confident of solution

Wednesday, November 20, 2013 08:00 IST 
Ashwani Maindola, New Delhi

Even as Rs 1,000 crore worth of imported processed foods remain stuck at various ports and airports in the country following the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India's (FSSAI) recent diktat on strict compliance with labeling regulations, food importers are optimistic that the issue may be resolved soon, as the authority seems to be taking steps in that direction – the first being a notification clarifying on some aspects. 

According to the Forum of Indian Food Importers (FIFI), the notification clarified a number of doubts about food import. “Earlier, there was a lack of clarity as far as regulations were concerned. Secondly, we need some time before we could implement those fully,” explained FIFI's Rakesh Banga.

Meanwhile, some food importers observed that for the last couple of months, the authority – under fire for its lackadaisical approach in implementing these regulations (particularly with respect to food imports to India) – implemented the regulations strictly.

During this period, FSSAI started insisting on proper label indicating the product type, price and nutritional value of the imported processed foods instead of stickers. However, Banga stated that it was the food importers' responsibility to get acquainted with the law and plan to avoid any glitch with respect to compliance.

Interestingly, earlier, the repeated amendments in the regulations, in the wake of fears that the country had become a dumping ground for expired foods, had left the importers confused. With the authority insisting on labels instead of stickers, consignments of foods that were already imported and lying at ports and airports suffered delay (despite the fact that there was clarity.)

The result was several items, including chocolates and cookies, were absent from the market this festive season. According to market analysts, about 50 per cent of India's packaged food imports take place during the festive season.

Meanwhile, the pending issues as far as food imports are concerned include 100 per cent sampling of containers coming into the country, slower product approvals, and over 11,000 applications awaiting the FSSAI nod.

However, Amit Lohani, convenor, FIFI, was optimistic that the organisation had made a representation before the authority and the issues were being resolved

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Vasudev Adiga's to fund a million meals for kids to back Akshaya Patra

Friday, November 15, 2013 08:00 IST 
Our Bureau, Bengaluru

Vasudev Adiga’s, a popular chain of restaurants in Karnataka, has committed to raise funds by sponsoring a million meals in collaboration with its customers, partners and employees to support the Akshaya Patra Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which serves mid-day meals to government schoolchildren in India.

This campaign, titled +1, was launched on Children’s Day (November 14, 2013) and will roll out across 20 of the chain's outlets in Bengaluru and the rest of Karnataka. The price of every item on Vasudev Adiga’s menu would be increased by Re 1, and the proceeds would be donated to the Foundation.

“Our +1 campaign aims to bring together our customers, partners and employees in achieving our goal of helping the Akshaya Patra Foundation to provide a million meals. We hope to demonstrate the collective power to do good by giving just an extra rupee. We hope this campaign would inspire our customers, while helping nourish the dreams of many children across the country”, said Jacob Kurian, managing director, Vasudev Adiga’s.

In a public-private partnership with the Indian government, the Foundation serves the largest number of hot, freshly-cooked school meals in the country each school working day. Reaching out to around 1.3 million children in 19 locations across nine states of India, Akshaya Patra is one of the world’s largest NGO-run school meal programmes.

According to Shridhar Venkat, executive director, the Akshaya Patra Foundation said, “This partnership would support many deserving children of our country in their endeavors to realize their dreams and true potential. We are extremely happy to have collaborated with Vasudev Adiga’s under their +1 campaign, which hopes to reach out to many such children, helping us take a step closer to ensuring that no child in India is deprived of education because of hunger.”

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July 1, 2014 new deadline for FSSAI's logos, food registration numbers

Thursday, November 14, 2013 08:00 IST 
Abhitash Singh, Mumbai

 As the December 7, 2013 deadline for complying with the norms to bear the logo and registration or license numbers – made mandatory by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) – is approaching, the country's apex food regulator has extended the deadline to comply with the provisions for seven months. July 1, 2014 is the new deadline to become compliant with the provisions.

According to Mahesh Zagade, food commissioner, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Maharashtra, the state would be the first in India to comply with the provisions before the set deadline. He said, “FSSAI has set very strict guidelines for food manufacturers. The notifications, which were issued in June 2013, state that every food business operator (FBO) in the country must obtain a 14-digit registration or licence number,which must be printed on food packages.”

“The move by the food regulator would not only help consumers, but also food safety officers (FSOs) to know whether the product has undergone quality checks and to bring down the instances of sub-standard products, reduce the number of bogus manufacturers and enhance accountability for complying with the provisions. FBOs from all over Maharashtra should complete their registration and licensing and printing their registration and license numbers on food packages,” Zagade added.

Zagade added, “Our FSOs are always ready to educate the FBOs about the importance of registration and licensing. They have also taken the initiative to call at least 200 FBOs to the FDA office or go to their premises to train them about the importance of having registrations and licenses and complying with the new guidelines to provide quality foods to the consumers. Since Maharashtra is leading in registration and licensing, FBOs of the state will also be the first to comply with the new deadline.”

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Lactalis "nears deal for dairy firm Tirumala"

By Raghavendra Verma | 15 November 2013

Lactalis is said to be close to securing a deal to buy a majority stake in Indian dairy business Tirumala Milk Products.

The French dairy giant is near to an agreement to buy 70% of Tirumala, India's Economic Times has reported.

Tirumala is controlled by family members but three years ago secured investment from private-equity group Carlyle, which now has a 20% stake. Earlier this month, Tirumala said its owners were in talks with Lactalis' domestic rival Danone. 

Tirumala is one of the largest dairy processors in southern India. The Hyderabad-based company processes and markets products including milk, butter, paneer (Indian cheese) and ice cream. It turned over INR14.2bn (US$223m) in 2012-13, 21% higher than in the previous year.

Satish Kulkarni, chairman of the Indian Dairy Association's south zone in Bangalore, told just-food Lactalis' purported strategy to invest in Tirumala was sound.

Kulkarni noted the Indian dairy sector was a major growth area, with milk production increasing annually by about 4%, while internationally the growth rate is 1.2% to 1.3%. Furthermore, he said India also produces milk at a competitive price and is therefore a potential stable source of raw material for the multinationals. "These companies can also use it as a base for exporting produce to other countries."

Lactalis could not be reached for comment at the time of writing.

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FSSAI labeling issue hits packaged food imports hard

Sounak Mitra & Viveat Susan Pinto  |  New Delhi/ Mumbai  

November 5, 2013

Categories across the board from chocolate to cheese, olive oil to biscuits have been impacted as a result of stand off between importers, food safety regulator

It is not just your favourite imported chocolate that went missing from shop shelves this festive season. Crispies such as Pringles, gourmet cheese, olive oil, biscuits, noodles, pasta, jams, honey, oats, sauces... you name it... were hardly to be found this Diwali as the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the country's apex regulator, came down heavily on importers overlabeling issues.

Government sources indicate that packaged foods worth over Rs 750-1,000 crore were stuck at various ports and airports across the country as the food safety regulator insisted that importers desist from using stickers on food products to indicate crucial details such as the product type, price and nutritional value. 

What's worse? The stand-off, on for the last three months, shows no signs of abating, as FSSAI refuses to budge from its position. “FSSAI’s move is in line with the law, and all companies – be it Indian or foreign – should comply with it. Stickers are temporary measures. When our norms are clearly laid out, companies must print them on the packs that are to be shipped to India,” an FSSAI official when contacted said. He declined to be quoted given the sensitivity of the matter.

But importers, irked by the lacklustre Diwali sales, say that if the issue is not sorted out soon enough could impact business during Christmas and New Year too. Almost 50-55% of packaged food imports in India happen during the festive season, since it is utilised mainly for gifting purposes besides consumption.  

Amit Lohani, convenor, Forum of Indian Food Importers, a body of food importers in the country, says FIFI has already made numerous representations to FSSAI in a bid to resolve the issue. "On October 31, FSSAI came out with a notification agreeing to one of our demands, which is to allow the food safety logo on a sticker. This is with immediate effect," Lohani, who imports confectionary, snacks and coffee among other products, said. 

Lohani points to other issues worrying importers. "Such as 100% sampling of containers coming into the country," he says. "Earlier sampling was to the extent of 5-10% not more. This was to give an idea of what the consignment was made up of. With 100% sampling of each and every container now, this is obviously leading to a huge delay. Containers are hardly getting cleared," says Lohani.

Slower product approvals are another issue bogging importers for a while now. Lohani says there are almost 11,000 applications pending approval from the FSSAI, with the body clearing just about 8-10 applications a day. "At this rate, the regulator will take about two to three years to clear the backlog," he says.

However, there are voices that speak in favour of the food safety regulator's recent moves. Says Saloni Nangia, president, Technopak Advisors; "The FSSAI's move to enforce labeling standards is a step in the right direction. India for long has been a dumping ground for products that are well past their sell-by-date. At least now there will be some accountability. Product quality is compromised with the use of stickers. FSSAI is attempting to stop that."

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Hearing of FSSAI chairman's appointment PIL scheduled for March 5, '14

Saturday, November 09, 2013 08:00 IST 
Ashwani Maindola, New Delhi

The upcoming hearing of the public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the recruitment and appointment of the chairperson of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is 

scheduled to take place on March 5, 2014.

It was filed in the Delhi High Court by Lok Jagriti, a Ghaziabad-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) on May 29, 2013. The PIL stated that K Chandramouli, FSSAI's incumbent chief, did not fulfill the eligibility criteria for the post as desired under Section 5 of the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006.

During the first hearing on August 14, 2013, the court had asked for a reply from the respondents. This was filed on October 30, 2013. “The respondents denied all the charges made in the PIL and said that the appointment was done as per the rules and norms prescribed in the Act,” said Govindjee, the petitioner's counsel.

He said, “The respondents added that the FSS Act is in a nascent stage, and they are taking help from Codex regulations in formulating the regulations in India, which was countered by the petitioner by saying that there were some norms in Codex, which cannot be applied in India.”

The NGO also mentioned that while searching for the chairperson of the apex food authority, many people with scientific background were available but ignored, and only a person with administrative background was chosen.

It also stated that Chandramouli also acted as CEO of the authority, which is a case of conflict of interest as a person cannot hold two positions simultaneously in the authority under the rules prescribed in FSS Act, and it is only now the regular CEO was appointed.

The petitioner also informed that the next date of hearing was too far, and they would move an application for the early hearing of the case.

It is pertinent to mention here that under Section 5 (3) of FSS Act, the chairperson would be appointed by the central government from amongst the persons of eminence in the field of food science or from amongst the persons from the administration who have been associated with the subject, and are either holding or have held a position not below the rank of secretary to the government of India

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Happy Diwali

FOODKonnect wishes everybody a very 

Happy Diwali and a prosperous year ahead. 

Frustrated Wal-Mart lays consumer ambitions to rest with JV break-up

By RJ Whitehead,10-Oct-2013

Wal-Mart appears to have lost patience with its fraught ambition to enter Indian consumer retail, after deciding to buy out its local partner, Bharti Enterprises, from their six-year-old joint-venture.

The agreement is subject to finalization of definitive agreements and receipt of the necessary regulatory approvals.The two companies say they have reached an agreement to independently own and operate separate business formats in India and discontinue their franchise agreement in the retail business.

American giant staying in cash-and-carry

Once everything is in order, Wal-Mart will acquire Bharti’s stake in Bharti-Walmart, giving the world’s biggest retailer 100% ownership of all 20 stores in its Best Price Modern Wholesale cash and carry business.

Wal-mart said it plans to continue to grow this business while working with the government and interested stakeholders to create more preferable conditions for foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail.

Reading between the lines, the American giant has pretty much put its consumer retail plans on ice in the face of its high-profile political struggles as politicians have held sway on the thorny issue of foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail.

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Mrs Bector’s investor 'looking to divest stake in biscuits business'

02-Oct-2013

Rumours persist that one of India’s leading bakery and condiments companies is looking to sell off the controlling stake in its biscuits business to private equity investors.

Quoting “people in the know”, Business Standard reported that Motilal Oswal Private Equity is in talks with PE companies to sell its 23% share in the biscuits wing of Mrs Bector’s Foods, which contributes Rs450cr to Rs500cr (US$72m-80m) to the wider company’s Rs600cr (US$96m) annual revenue.

The sale can take place following a de-merger of the business’s operating units. Mrs Bector’s sells products under the brand name Cremica and supplies buns, liquid condiments, batter and breading to companies like McDonald’s, Hindustan Unilever, Big Bazaar, Air India and Domino’s.

MOPE retained its share in the biscuits business in 2010 when the Mrs Bector’s was split equally by founder Rajni Bector between his three sons.

The private equity company had earlier made its investment of Rs70cr (US$11.2m) in the North Indian company in 2010 by buying out the stake of Jade Garden, the Mauritius-based unit of US banking giant Goldman Sachs, which had invested in 2007, and is expected to make an exit of three times its investment.

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NIFTEM & GS1 India ink MoU to develop food safety courses and syllabus

Saturday, September 28, 2013 08:00 IST 
Ashwani Maindola, New Delhi

The National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) and GS1 India (an organisation dedicated to implementing global supply chain management standards) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the former's campus in Sonepat, Haryana on Friday to develop courses and syllabus focussing on making students

aware of the global developments in the food safety sector.

 

This arrangement will also lead to faculty-student exchange programmes between the two organisations to bridge the skill gap through the inclusion of modules on food safety in the academic curricula. The MoU would help develop courses that would include subjects like traceability, stock management, demand forecast, tracking of product and checking counterfeit products.

 

“NIFTEM already started a programme based on food safety through traceability and recall,” informed Ashutosh Upadhyay, associate professor and head, Department of Food Science and Technology, NIFTEM.

 

Earlier while delivering address on the occasion, Ravi Mathur, chief executive officer, GS1, said that the MoU also envisaged collaboration and cooperation between the two organisations in spreading awareness on the prevalent and emerging global trends on food safety, which could be adopted by the Indian food industry, leading to greater consumer confidence in Indian food products and their increased acceptance in global markets.

 

“A lot of innovation is happening in the field of food safety, and there is need to incorporate these developments in the curriculum of the future food safety managers, and technologists that would address all relevant subjects related to food safety,” he said.

 

He added that this would help in equipping the food safety system with corrective and precautionary measures and subsequently lead to greater confidence amongst consumers.

Hailing the MoU, Ajit Kumar, vice-chancellor, NIFTEM, said that the institute was ready to incorporate all relevant global subjects of food safety. He added that there would be a series of training programmes, workshops and collaborations for strengthening the courses at the institute.

 

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Parle returns to carbonated drinks with India’s first fizzy coffee

By RJ Whitehead,26-Sep-2013

Twenty years after it exited the carbonated soft drinks business, Parle Agro has now revealed it will return to the market with a coffee flavoured fizzy drink—a first for the Indian market.

 

Parle was behind some of India’s best known soft drink brands, including Thums Up, Limca, Gold Spot and Citra. But in 1993, the company sold them to Coca-Cola in a deal, supposedly worth in the region of US$40m, that also included a non-compete agreement for 10 years.

Brand builder

In place of carbonated soft drinks, Parle has over the 20 years built a Rs2,000-crore (US$322m) business of bottled water, fruit-based drinks and healthy snacks.

But before it sold to Coca-Cola, Parle brands had a 60% share of the soft drinks industry, and even today, Thums Up remains so strong as a brand that Coca-Cola has still not managed to make an impact on its locally developed stablemate’s position. This makes India the only market in the world in which Coke trails a group brand in market share.

Parle’s new product, Cafe Cuba, will roll out over the first couple of months of next year, and the company expects it will soon gain a 7% market share—and become a Rs1,000cr (US$161m) brand even within the first year to 18 months of its launch, according to the company’s founder.

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Dangerous dietary supplements need greater scrutiny and better labels

New bill in Congress would require more information on supplement labels and provide the FDA with greater authority

Published: August 2013

Millions of Americans take dietary supplements such as multivitamins, minerals, and herbs to improve their health. While many supplements may be safe and effective, some contain ingredients that pose significant dangers to consumers.

In our September 2012 special report, "10 Surprising Dangers of Vitamins and Supplements," we detailed the risks associated with certain dangerous dietary supplements, such as products marketed for bodybuilding, sexual enhancement, and weight loss that were spiked with prescription drugs or synthetic steroids. USA Today recently reported on supplements that contained pesticides and banned chemicals.

Current law makes it difficult for the government to remove unsafe supplements from the marketplace. The Food and Drug Administration has only limited authority over supplements, and it doesn’t evaluate them for safety or effectiveness before they go on sale. Many supplement labels do not warn about potential dangers, so customers may not know the risks until they get terribly sick, or worse.

Consumers Union, the policy and advocacy arm of Consumer Reports, firmly believes we need to strengthen the FDA’s authority over supplements and get more information into the hands of consumers.

A new bill in Congress sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) would help consumers tell the difference between dietary supplements that are safe and those that have potentially serious side effects or drug interactions.

The Durbin-Blumenthal Dietary Supplement Labeling Act would require more information on product labels, give more authority to the FDA to require manufacturers to register their products and ingredients and provide evidence of any health benefit claims. It would also crack down on drinks and foods that are marketed as dietary supplements as a way to avoid FDA oversight.

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India aims to ease poverty, malnutrition by expanding grain subsidies to reach 800 million

By Associated Press, Published: September 3

NEW DELHI — India plans to subsidize wheat, rice and cereals for some 800 million people under a $20 billion scheme to cut malnutrition and ease poverty.

The Food Security Bill, sent this week by India’s parliament to the president for approval, guarantees citizens a legal right to food.
 

India has some of the world’s worst poverty and malnutrition with two-thirds of its 1.2 billion people poor and half of the country’s children malnourished. But the $20 billion annual cost of the bill, which consolidates and expands existing subsidies, has drawn renewed attention to strained government finances at a time when India is flirting with an economic crisis as its currency falls and debt mounts.

Food Minister K.V. Thomas called the bill a first step toward improving food distribution in a country where poor transportation and lack of refrigeration mean up to 40 percent of all grains and produce rot before they reach the market.

The Washington Post Article

India’s Food Security Bill nears finishing line

28-Aug-2013

India’s controversial Food Security Bill has moved a step closer to reality after the country’s lower house, the Lok Sabha, approved the controversial Rs1.3lakh crore (US$20bn) plan to provide cheap grain to the poor – a key part of the ruling Congress party's strategy to win re-election next spring. 

Under the terms of the Bill, the government will sell subsidized wheat and rice to more than two-thirds of its 1.2 billion population.

India’s finances and it’s ability to meet the vast cost of the scheme has made it unpopular with many sections of society, while the government has been accused of being a cynical vote-winner ahead of next year’s general elections.

However, finance minister P Chindambaram was adamant that the nation can afford the scheme. 

"As the rollout takes place in different states on different dates, the money would be made available. In fact, after providing for the food security bill, we would still remain within the limits that were accepted in the Budget papers," he said.

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A case of semantics: Snax biscuit brand denied trademark

By Annie-Rose Harrison-Dunn, 28-Aug-2013

Indian snack company Britannia Industries has lost a trademark battle for its Snax brand despite winning in a similar case against PepsiCo back in 2009.

Britannia, which said it has been using the brand name since 1965, has been denied the right to trademark its Snax biscuit brand name since it resembles too closely the word snacks.  

According to the final judgment of the Indian patent authority IPAB: "The trademark Snax is phonetically similar to the word snacks. Snacks means some light food. When a trademark has a direct reference to the quality of the goods for which registration is sought for such mark shall not be granted".

This rule is enforced in order to prevent one player from monopolizing the use of a common word that characterizes a good.

A history of trademark troubles

Britannia won a legal scuffle with PepsiCo in 2009 for use of the Britannia Snax trademark, yet was unsuccessful in this latest case, which claimed just the word Snax.

Britannia itself was in trouble back in 2011 when Kraft Foods sued it for trademark and copyright violations, claiming Britannia’s Treat-O biscuit was a copy of Kraft’s well-known Oreo biscuit.  

Spotlight on Indian economy

Media attention has focused on the Indian economy recently since its apparent resilience to the 2008 world economic crisis seems to be coming to an end. In the two years following this crisis the country recorded 9% GDP growth, yet in the past few weeks the value of the rupee has plummeted to a sixth of its value against the US dollar. 

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India’s food industry laid low by increased wastage

By Ankush Chibber, 28-Aug-2013

India’s food production industry is being crushed under alarming post-harvest losses that may cross US$36bn in 2013-14, new research into the country’s agri-processing sector has revealed. 

According to the study done by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India (Assocham), India is trailing only China when it comes to food production, but the country’s post-harvest losses continue to be a concern.

At least 30% of fruits and vegetables were rendered unfit for consumption due to spoilage after harvesting, negligent attitudes, absence of food processing units and the unavailability of modern cold storages. At present, only 22.3% of produced fruits and vegetable actually reach the wholesale market in India. 

Innovative mechanisms

“India’s current levels of food processing continue to be low in perishable categories like fruits and vegetables [2-3%], poultry [6-8%] and fisheries [10-12%],” said Rana Kapoor, Assocham’s president. 

“This can be turned around by adopting innovative institutional mechanisms to upscale both our warehousing and logistics infrastructure.”

He pointed to effective collaborations between the public and private sectors as one cure and sighted the “Vision 2015” plan put forth by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.

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FDA clearly ramping up scrutiny of Indian pharma businesses

By RJ Whitehead, 27-Aug-2013

With two more warning letters sent by the US drug regulator to Indian companies for violation of acceptable manufacturing practices, America has brought to six the number of India-based drugmaking facilities against which it has taken action over the past three months.

 

Moreover, these six warnings from the US Food and Drug Administration’s Centre for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) account for almost two-thirds of all the letters it has sent out globally over that period. 

They seem excessively high when taken in the context of just 10 India-bound warning letters sent by the CDER between 2010 and 2012 - out of a global total of 130.

Targeting India

Given that many of these communications refer to established companies that operate under consistent practices, these numbers might indicate that the FDA has set out to target Indian companies.

Moreover, the US regulator is planning to grow the number of staff in its Indian bureaux to 19 from less than five in 2009, giving further evidence that the FDA plans to monitor Indian activities more closely.

Its two Indian offices, in Delhi and Mumbai, monitor the quality of foods and drugs made in India, the second largest drug exporter and the seventh largest food exporter to the US. Nearly one quarter of the spices, oils and food colourings used in the US comes from India, the largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices globally.

In the most recent development, the CDER issued warning letters to Promed Exports and Posh Chemicals, accusing both companies of manufacturing violations. And, echoing the prominent cases of pharmaceutical majors Ranbaxy and Wokhardt earlier this year, the centre also suggested that Posh, which is headquartered in Hyderabad, had manipulated its data - a much more serious charge.

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