Governments of India & Canada in talks over canola oil labelling issue

Wednesday, December 17, 2014 08:00 IST 
Ashwani Maindola, New Delhi

The Canadian government has commenced talks with the Indian government to allow the import of canola oil under the same name. 

Bruce Jowett, vice-president, market development, Canola Council, was in India recently to hold talks with officials of the government of India on the issues related to the branding and labelling of canola oil.

The government-level talks were already on between the two sides to resolve the issue that arose primarily out of an advisory by the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) that mandated that labels include the mention of imported rapeseed low-erucic acid oil. 

Currently, both the governments are talking to resolve the issue, with frequent visits by officials of the Canadian trade and agriculture ministries. “The Canadian government officials were in talks with their Indian counterparts to help them understand the challenges on how we label canola oil coming into India,” said Jowett. 

However, canola oil itself contains less than two per cent of erucic acid. “This oil comes from the canola crop, cultivated in various parts of Canada,” said Jowett, adding that Japan has been importing canola oil with the Canola brand name for the last 30 years. Jowett said, “America is the top importer, followed by Mexico. China is a fast-growing market for canola oil.”

“The world over, the oil is imported under the same brand name, and people are more familiar with the health benefits attached with the brand. We would try to convince the Indian government that canola is different from the oil extracted from the conventional rapeseed,” he added.

“Canada exports it to over 50 countries under the name of Canola. And also at the International Commodity Exchange, it is traded as Canola,” said Jowett. 

According to the Canola Council, of roughly 60,000 tonnes of canola oil that were imported into India in 2013, nearly 1,700 tonnes were directly shipped from Canada, and the remainder came from other countries, primarily the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (52,000 tonnes). Canada typically supplies about 90 per cent of the canola seed to the UAE.

In 2013, Canada supplied a majority of canola oil to India (1,700 tonnes directly, plus about 47,000 tonnes indirectly [via the UAE]), totalling nearly 49,000 tonnes, according to Oil World data. The remainder of the canola oil coming into India was from other countries.

Canada grows canola on 20 million acres of land, and 90 per cent of the canola oil and seeds is exported. 

To the United States, a total of 1.8 million tonnes is exported. This includes 1.4 million tonnes oil and 4,00,000 tonnes of seeds.

To Japan, a total of 9,00,000 tonnes of seeds were exported last year, while China is currently importing 2.4 million tonnes (oil and seeds).

The Canadian government has taken special initiatives to promote the oil in newer markets, as it intends to increase the contribution of canola trade to the economy from the current $19.3 billion.

Canada’s export of canola oil to the United States was worth $3.5 billion in the crop year that ended in July 2014, while shipments to Japan were worth $1.2 billion.

Meanwhile, Bombay High Court heard a petition filed by Dalmia Continental Pvt Ltd, challenging the rejection of imported canola oil at Mumbai’s seaport by FSSAI.

In its September 2014 order, it said, “FSSAI’s action was arbitrary, as the apex food regulator, which had rejected the consignment in January, cleared the same in April. There was another rejection in June.” 

“The court ordered FSSAI to clear the consignments in the interim, while a final order in the case is awaited. An appeal against the order was filed by FSSAI in the Supreme Court as well,” the court added. 

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Laws to prevent food, milk adulteration to be made stringent

PTI | 16 December 2014, 11:38 AM IST

NEW DELHI: Laws to prevent food and milk adulteration will be made more stringent and a task force set up to revisit the current legislation has been asked to give its report in 45 days, Health Minister J P Nadda informed Lok Sabha today.

"We propose to comprehensively review the Food Safety and Standards Act, Rules and Regulations to address the concerns of courts in matters relating to food adulteration and the numerous representation received from food business operators.
"It is also proposed to revisit the punishment stipulated for milk adulteration and make it more stringent," Nadda said, responding to Calling Attention by P V Midhun Reddy (YSR Cong) and Satyapal Singh (BJP).
Amid concerns voiced by law-makers over the "slow poison" in the form of food adulteration, unregulated use of pesticides and antibiotics, especially in poultry products, Nadda termed it as "serious health hazard" and said government will strengthen manpower and infrastructure to tackle the challenge.
"Time has come to revisit current laws. Two days ago, we formed a task force. It will give its report in 45 days," he said, adding that a mechanism has to be developed which is continuous so that it could deal with the problem even as new means of adulteration are reported.

Noting the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCD), he said contaminated food items are a reason behind it.

The poor implementation of the existing Food Safety and Standards Act was also a problem, Nadda said, blaming state governments for it.

Reddy and Singh said almost everything consumed by people from water to milk and food products were contaminated. They expressed concern over the use of oxytocin injection to make cows produce more milk and demanded swift action to curb the menace.
Nadda said 13,571 out of 72,200 food samples analysed in 2013-14 were adulterated, resulting in launch of 10,325 civil and criminal cases, and assured the House that the government was committed to curb what Singh described as a "crime with humanity".

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Rasna, Vadilal keen to invest in Himachal

IANS | 09 November 2014, 11:02 AM IST

AHMEDABAD, Fruit juice concentrates maker Rasna Private Ltd Saturday showed interest in setting up a food park in Himachal Pradesh, while Vadilal Industries Ltd proposed to commission an agro processing unit.

Piruz Khambatta, chairman and managing director of Rasna, met a visiting delegation led by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh here and proposed to set up a mega food park.
Khambatta said the apples of Himachal Pradesh were better in quality than those of China.
He told the chief minister that he was keen on a joint venture with the state. For this, he proposed to launch a soft drink named "Rasna Himachal".
Ice cream maker Vadilal, which has three facilities in the country, proposed to set up an agro-based processing unit in the state.

Likewise, pharmaceutical major Torrent Group sought permission to set up a second facility in the state with a proposed investment of Rs.200 crore.
The Torrent Group has invested Rs.325 crore in the state.
Officials said the group has also shown interest in setting up mega hydropower projects. The chief minister asked the company to submit its proposal by Dec 15.

Adani Agrifresh business head Srinivasa Ramanujam, which has invested Rs.200 crore in the hill state in cold stores, has expressed interest in commissioning another store in Kullu area for storing 15,000 tonnes of apples.

The investors' meet in Ahmedabad was the last meeting in the first phase, which was organised by the Himachal government in association with CII.Earlier, meetings were held in Mumbai and Bangalore.

Official data shows that Himachal Pradesh got maximum investment from 2003 to 2010 when there was a special industrial package of the central government.

Most investments were in pharmaceuticals, food processing, textiles, packaging and light engineering sectors.

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Govt on FSS regulations review path ; withdraws amendment Bill from RS

Friday, November 07, 2014 08:00 IST 
Ashwani Maindola, New Delhi

In what could be seen as the first step towards comprehensive review of the Food Safety & Standards Regulations, 2011, the government has decided to withdraw the Food Safety and Standards (Amendment) Bill, 2014, introduced in the Rajya Sabha in February this year. 

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday at a meeting chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi gave its approval for withdrawing the Food Safety and Standards (Amendment) Bill, 2014, as introduced in the Rajya Sabha on February 19,2014.

This decision was taken as the Union ministry of health has embarked on  a comprehensive review as reported by FnbNews earlier and the ministry has decided to include a lot of suggestions and recommendations in the wake of various court orders and representations made by traders bodies and FBOs (food business operators).

A statement by the government said, “The Food Safety and Standards (Amendment) Bill, 2014, needs to be further amended after taking into account the judgements of the Supreme Court; Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court, and representations received by the government and other recent developments.”

The statement added that based on further examination, a fresh set of amendments will be finalised by the ministry of health and family welfare.

The February 2014 amendment was mainly for Food Safety & Standards Authority of India’s bureaucratic operations. The amendment seeks review of Sub-section (1) of Section 5 of the said Act, which provides for the composition of the food authority consisting of a chairperson and 22 members, which does not include the chief executive officer. It is proposed to include the chief executive officer in the composition of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India amongst others.

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Ferrero contemplating expanding its product range in India

PTI | 19 October 2014, 6:30 PM IST

NEW DELHI: Italian confectionery giant Ferrero is contemplating expanding its product range in India with introduction of new brands along with few brand extensions.

"We have pipeline of innovations and we would like to explore opportunities in the Indian market. Ferrero has a huge portfolio. While we continue focus on our four existing brands, we would like to enlarge our portfolio," Ferrero India Marketing Head Emanuele Fiordalisi told PTI.

Ferrero's four brands in India are Rocher, Kinder Joy, Tic Tac and Nutella.

When asked by when does the company plan to expand its products range, Fiordalisi said: "I can say in the coming years...It will be soon."

On new products, he said: "For example there is Kinder portfolio that can brought to India and some other brands."

He, however, did not share more details. Talking about Indian operations, Fiordalisi that India is one of the most important emerging markets for Ferrero.

"We have not yet reached our objective (in terms of brands reach and sales). We are still a young company. We have ambitious plans in the coming years," he said.

Ferrero also plans to launch its spreads brand Nutella on a larger scale.

"Nutella has a limited presence right now, only in tier I cities. But we are looking at launching Nutella on large scale in smaller towns as well," Fiordalisi said.

The company, at present, manufactures Kinder Joy and Tic Tac in its plant in Baramati in Maharashtra.

As part of Diwali campaign, the company has built a Ferrero Rocher pyramid at Ambience Mall in Gurgaon, its largest pyramid in India.

The pyramid will be on display till October 23 2014. 
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25 quintals of spurious milk products seized in Dehradun

By Shahla Siddiqui | 19 October 2014, 4:30 PM IST

DEHRADUN: Ahead of Diwali, officials here have seized over 25 quintals of adulterated milk products, including sweets meant to be circulated in markets of the state capital as well as other places in Uttarakhand.

While such seizures are common ahead of the festival every year, the large quantity this time around hints at the magnitude of the adulteration racket in the state.

The intense drive against spurious food items was kicked off on October 15 and several teams of the State Food Safety and Standards Department (SFSSD) made these seizures in Dehradun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar till Saturday. The department claimed that the three places are the entry points for smuggling milk products, which are frequently used during Diwali, into the hill state.

While food officials in Udham Singh Nagar and Dehradun are carrying out drives during the daytime, for those posted in Haridwar the pre-Diwali season has brought sleepless nights. "We are checking all the interstate buses as they carry milk products in huge amounts to adjoining districts of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan. Till now we have checked over 150 buses," Haridwar district food safety officer (DFSO) Mahimanand Joshi told TOI.

On Saturday, 7.5 quintals of suspicious milk products were seized and destroyed by the department. The seizure was made from four buses entering the state, three of them from Uttar Pradesh and one from Rajasthan. "There was no owner of the consignment in the buses. We seized it, collected samples and destroyed it," Joshi added.

In Rudrapur area of Udham Singh Nagar district, over 9 quintals of milk products have been seized till now, out of which 4 quintals were seized on Friday. According to SFSSD officials, Rudrapur alone supplies milk products and sweets in the hilly areas of Pithoragarh, Bageshwar, Champawat and Almora.

Udham Singh Nagar DFSO Manish Kumar Siyana said, "We believe controlling adulteration in Rudrapur will help maintain food standards and safety in the hills as a large amount of milk products are transported from here to the districts. Till now, over 9 quintals of suspicious milk products have been seized and over 100 notices have been given to sweet shops."

Apart from seizing substandard food items, this year the department has laid emphasis on the hygienic conditions in sweet shops.

"We are issuing notices to sweet shops which are not maintaining hygiene. Unpacked food items are another way of inviting notices. No shopkeeper will be spared in case of any adulteration or if substandard food is found," Rajendra Singh Rawat, designated officer (headquarters), SFSSD, said.

In Dehradun, over 20 notices have been issued and 8 quintals of food products have been seized till now.
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Scotch shipment held up over non-compliance

By Sidhartha | 15 October 2014, 1:50 PM IST


NEW DELHI: For all the noise by foreign chocolate manufacturers and scotch and wine makers over the food safety regulator holding up consignments, it turns out that around 1% of the shipments has been rejected so far this year, compared to under 2% last year.

What's more, the maximum number of rejections was due to the absence of the date of manufacturing and the manufacturer's name issues seen as critical from safety point of view followed by labeling-related issues and the lack of ingredients list, official data accessed by TOI has revealed. There are several cases where goods with unpermitted ingredients were being imported into the country but were stopped at ports.

Over the past few months, chocolate, food and alcohol importers had created a lot of noise over shipments being rejected on various grounds, with some going to the extent of suggesting that several important ingredients used by specialty restaurants were not available due to Food Safety Standards Authority of India's (FSSAI) crackdown.

There have also been suggestions that it would be tough to find imported chocolates this Diwali. But data tells a different story. Between April and August this year, of the 304 consignments that were not issued the 'non-compliance certificate,' 26, which is the maximum number, related to flavours, which are added to various food products. This was followed by alcohol (17), beverages (16), chocolates (14) and confectionary (13). In case of chocolates, several consignments of global giants were rejected as they contained vegetable fat, which was as high as 70% in some cases and were being brought into the country as dark, white or milk compounds, said sources familiar with the development

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PMO to look into issues concerning FSSAI, including product nod delays

Saturday, October 04, 2014 08:00 IST 
Ashwani Maindola, New Delhi 

In a major development, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has decided to intervene and look into possible solutions for issues related to FSSAI - delays in product approval, frequent changing
of labelling norms, and food imports stuck at various ports and airports. 

Caught in the tangle between the two Union ministries, ministry of food processing industries (MoFPI) as far as manufacturing is concerned and ministry of health and family welfare with regard to product approval and food safety, such issues have marred both the Indian food processing industry and food import trade. 

Various options
In this regard, for a while, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Union minister of food processing industries, has been trying out various options - having one-to-one discussions with Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union minister of health and family welfare, and taking up the matter with prime minister Narendra Modi. The latest development seems to be a result of these efforts. 

Replying to F&B News, Badal informed that her ministry fully appreciated that the health standards of the country needed to be maintained without being compromised but also felt the industry’s need to grow. 

Key issue
She explained, “We had a lot of inter-ministerial dialogue. We took up this issue with the health ministry as it was one of the first things industry brought to my notice when I took over along with other issues of labelling, goods stuck at ports, and timely approvals. I took up the issue with Dr Harsh Vardhan. After having our discussions, we have taken up the issue with the prime minister, and at that level it will be sorted out.”

Badal added that the government was working to provide a solution to the industry and various arms of the government were in talks with each other regularly in this regard. 

Due to the persisting issues related to FSSAI, there were reports suggesting that MoFPI wanted product approval or FSSAI to come under different body. However, Badal clarified that it did not matter under whom product approval or FSSAI remained as long as its actions were not arbitrary. 

She stated, “The system should be transparent, and decisions shouldn’t be taken arbitrarily. It doesn’t matter under whom FSSAI is. What matters is the systems are not arbitrary and while maintaining the safety standards it (FSSAI) allows the industry to flourish. If industry will have any issues, those will be addressed.”

Growth
She observed, "Also while we need to work towards accepting global standards and keep safety and standards of our country at highest level, it should not hamper the growth of the industry. The ministry has taken up certain issues with the ministry of health and FSSAI related to the labelling of products, which are important because of the revised advisories issued by the FSSAI. And I am sure that a good solution will be arrived at soon.” 

On the issue of imported food stuck at various ports, the minister said, “There are a couple of issues which have been raised by the industry. I have taken them up with the health minister. The matter is also in the notice of the prime minister’s office.” 

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Borges India Pvt Ltd’s Bhasin is president of Indian Olive Association

Saturday, October 04, 2014 08:00 IST 
Our Bureau, New Delhi


Rajneesh Bhasin, who heads the India operations for Borges India Pvt Ltd (a fully-owned subsidiary of the Spanish multi-national firm Borges Mediterranean Group), has been appointed president, Indian Olive Association. 

Bhasin, who is responsible for establishing Borges as a leading player in the olive oil and other Mediterranean products category, has over 18 years’ experience in the sales and marketing of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), and has served as vice-president, Indian Olive Association.

He holds an engineering degree from the Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, and is a post-graduate in business management from the Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar.

He took over from V N Dalmia of Dalmia Continental. The latter would be the association’s founder president, while Aseem Soni of Cargill India would be its vice-president.

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Tata Starbucks expands to sixth city in India

IANS | 30 September 2014, 4:29 PM IST

HYDERABAD: Tata Starbucks Limited, a 50-50 joint venture between Starbucks Coffee Company of US and Tata Global Beverages, Tuesday expanded its operations to the sixth city in India by opening its flagship store in Hyderabad.

The store has come up in upmarket Jubilee Hills and is the first in Hyderabad and the 58th in India.
Tata Starbucks CEO Avani Davda said the store, designed in tune with the city's history and culture, is consistent with their long-term strategy to strengthen the presence in South India.

She told reporters that the company will soon open another store in the city.

In nearly two years since Tata Starbucks was launched, it has opened stores in Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad.

Tuesday saw the launch of three stores in Bangalore and Hyderabad. She said the company is excited over the way it is growing but declined to give any numbers with regard to the target.

"In last 10 weeks we have opened eight stores. It demonstrates our ambition for growth in India," she said.

For Starbucks, which has presence in 60 countries, India will be one of the strongest markets in the coming days.

Avani said they also have plans to open stores in tier-II cities. "We have over 50 cities are on our radar but we are first trying to understand what unique we can offer to these cities," she said.

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Companies like Reckitt Benckiser, Hindustan Unilever, Dabur and others to gain from 'Swachh Bharat' campaign

By Ratna Bhushan & Sagar Malviya | 02 October 2014, 10:08 AM IST


NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Among the biggest beneficiaries of the 'Swachh Bharat' campaign that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off on October 2 will be two multinationals Reckitt Benckiser and Hindustan Unilever that together own most big household cleaning brands in the country such as Lizol, Dettol, Harpic, Domex and Colin.

Companies such as consumer products maker Dabur and top retailer Future Group plan to leverage the 'Clean India' drive by launching their own cleanliness campaigns to promote their brands, as marketers say the biggest challenge for hygiene category has been lack of awareness. Nitish Kapoor, MD, Reckitt Benckiser, said the government initiative will significantly help spread hygiene awareness.

"In the long term, as more and more people adopt healthy hygiene practices, our products like Dettol and Harpic will become relevant for them," he told ET. Both HUL and Reckitt Benckiser run big awareness campaigns, particularly in rural areas, to boost sales of their hygiene products. Reckitt has committed Rs 100 crore for a five-year Dettol campaign to address "the country's hygiene and sanitation needs". It has roped in Amitabh Bachchan as ambassador for the programme that will take off this month and will cover 400 villages across Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra through videos, flyer distributions, posters, handwashing sessions and street plays. An HUL spokesperson said its Lifebuoy 'handwashing programme', which spreads the importance of washing hands with soap, has reached 58 million people in rural and urban India since 2010. Last year, HUL launched Domex Toilet Academy programme that aims to build 24,000 toilets in the country by 2015.

"Campaigns like Swachh Bharat will go a long way in creating awareness amongst people on the need for healthy hygiene habits," the person said. Reckitt Benckiser dominates toilet care space with its brand Harpic enjoying 69% market share in 2013, according to Euromonitor. It controls surface care market too with 57% share through brands such as Dettol, Easy-Off Bang, Lizol and Colin.
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Yudhvir Singh Malik of Haryana succeeds D K Samantaray as CEO of FSSAI

Wednesday, October 01, 2014 08:00 IST 
Ashwani Maindola, New Delh

Yudhvir Singh Malik, a 1983 batch officer of the Haryana cadre, has succeeded D K Samantaray as chief executive officer, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The latter’s tenure ended in August.

A top health ministry official confirmed the appointment of the former, who is currently additional chief secretary, Government of Haryana. He would join FSSAI after the holding of elections in that state.

Malik would be the third CEO of the country’s apex food regulator in the last two years. The challenges he faces include the completion of the licencing and registration of food business operators (FBOs) process.

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New labelling guidelines hit F&B industry hard ahead of the festival season

By Ratna Bhushan & Ishani Duttagupta| 28 September 2014, 10:01 AM IST

The festival season has kicked off but it's more famine than feast for food and beverage marketers. The reason for the gloom is the stringent implementation of food safety norms by the government regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI); this has resulted in delay over approvals of import consignments, a lot of which have been held up at ports.
The list of F&B firms hit by the FSSAI is long: GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, Ferrero Group, Tata Starbucks, Lindt chocolates, Cadbury, Mars, Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Bacardi, William Grant & Sons and Brown Forman. Around 300 containers worth roughly Rs 18,000 crore are stuck at ports just ahead of the festive season, said a top official of a chocolate importer, requesting not to be named. This, he said, includes consignments of imported chocolates, liquor and canola oil.

With Diwali just around the corner, liquor majors and restaurants are in a blue funk over their depleted stocks of imported premium liquor. But before the festival of lights comes the German beer festival Oktoberfest, which has already kicked off. "We usually serve a dozen German beers during Oktoberfest. But with imported consignments having been sent back due to non-compliant food labels, there is no visibility of any stock this year and we have only four German brands," says Rahul Singh, founder and CEO, The Beer Cafe.

The FSSAI labelling regulation requires the logo/license number, ingredients, importer name, batch number, packing and expiry date of imports to be displayed. Shipments have been sent back from the ports following even minor errors in the labels. In fact, the FSSAI has been very stringent in enforcing the law since July 2014, as the companies started building up stocks for the festival season.

Singh doesn't see the FSSAI issue getting resolved soon. "Most of the large beer companies in the world have a standard label that is globally acceptable. The India orders are meagre and these large corporations don't want to change labels only for India," he points out.
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Food processed is food saved: Harsimrat

TNN | 27 September 2014, 6:00 PM IST

LUDHIANA: Stressing on the need to check wastage in agriculture sector, which is estimated at over Rs 44,000 crore, Union minister for food processing industry Harsimrat Kaur Badal said on Friday that her main aim was that processed products should not be limited to elite sections only, but should be within the reach of "aam aadmi" too. Wastage could be reduced if farmers took advantage of food processing industry. "Food processed is food saved," she added.

She said a mega food park was coming up at Fazilka and it would be inaugurated in October. "One such park is also coming up near Ludhiana soon," she added.

Badal said her ministry would concentrate on creating primary collection centres close to food production areas to bring in efficiency in food processing and reduce wastages. "According to a study conducted by Central Institute of Post Harvest Engineering and Technology (CIPHET) in 2010, 18% of the total produce gets wasted. To achieve efficiency, the ministry will create an enabling environment, including creating refrigeration facilities at all levels," she added. "Due to wastage of food, the market availability declines and it directly leads to inflation. So if we control wastage by taking help of food processing industry, we can control inflation. I am going to Ahmadabad on Saturday where we will study the model adopted by Amul," she said.

She even urged farmers to adopt organic farming as well as processing fruits and vegetable into non-alcoholic wines. She asked PAU vice-chancellor Baldev Singh Dhillon to hold a monthly meeting where he should brief her about the ways in which farmers can be benefitted from food processing.

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Food safety standards should not be arbitrary: Harsimrat Kaur Badal

PTI Sep 22, 2014, 08.56PM IST

NEW DELHI: Expressing concerns over imported food items getting stuck in customs, Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal today said safety standards should not be arbitrary and detrimental to the industry.

Huge consignments carrying food processing ingredients are lying at ports due to the new labelling norms of the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

The matter has been taken up with the PMO and the Health Ministry, she told reporters while briefing her ministry's 100-days initiatives.

"Ingredients imported by the processing industry are lying at the customs as there are certain ingredients on which industry is having issues with FSSAI. It has been taken up with Health Ministry and a solution should be found very soon. The system needs to be very transparent," Badal said.

Badal said the food processing sector should be provided a level-playing field.

"Systems should not be arbitrary. While maintaining the food safety standards, it should also encourage the industry. So, if industry is having some issues that need to be addressed," Badal said.

The Minister said she has met Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and discussed the industry's issues related to FSSAI.

The matter has also been brought under the notice of Prime Minister's Office (PMO), she added.

Badal said there is no proposal to bring FSSAI under the Food Processing Ministry from the purview of Health Ministry.

FSSAI has been established under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which consolidates various acts & orders that have hitherto handled food related issues in various ministries and departments.

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Amul marketeer GCMMF becomes 15th top global dairy organisation.

PTI | 25 September 2014, 6:52 AM IST

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets its products under popular brand 'Amul', has risen to 15th position among top dairy organisations of world in 2014 from the 20th rank within two years.

"GCMMF, which markets the popular Amul brand of milk and dairy products, is the fastest growing dairy organisation in the entire world," the company said in a release today.

"In 2014, AMUL has risen to 15th rank among the top dairy organisations of the world, as per the figurers released by International Farm Comparison Network (IFCN)- a leading, global dairy knowledge organisation," it said.

"This has been the fastest rise by any top-ranking dairy organisations across the globe. Just two years back (in 2012), Amul was ranked 20 in the list of top global dairy organisations," it said.

Amul has been one of the dairies that has increased its milk procurement by 40 per cent from 2007, the report said, adding that it had procured 4.8 billion litre milk in year 2013-14.

"Credit for this wonderful achievement goes to 33 lakh farmers of Gujarat who own Amul and whose entire dedication, hard work and commitment to excellence has resulted in this accomplishment," Amul Managing Director R S Sodhi said.

"GCMMF plans to achieve turnover of Rs 22,000 crore in year 2014-15," he said.

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