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According to a report by ndtv.com 200 tons of chocolates, olives, alcoholic beverages, cured meat, cheese and other food products are reportedly catching dust in warehouses across the country. Products with a short shelf life are being pulled back. There's apparently plenty of ambiguity, lack of dialogue and absence of a well-articulated framework when it comes to rules and regulations regarding the food industry.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is responsible for laying down science-based standards for manufacturing, processing, distribution, sale and import of all food products. This regulatory body is the one point contact for all food manufacturers. According to the report, ndtv tried to get in touch with the FSSAI over a number of days but did not receive a response.
Nobody blames the regulatory body trying to ensure that food, wine or spirits imports meet Indian safety standards. The guidelines or regulations that the FSSAI follow are up to date, according to the report but these rules are allegedly old and irrelevant-dating as far back as 1954 and simply rehashed to look new and the interpretations of FSSAI are not uniform.
Makers of Lindt, the popular high quality Swiss chocolate, recently decided to pull out of the Indian market reportedly after a series of losses. Six years of roaring success in the Indian market was brought to a naught by the FSSAI who asked them to comply with the labeling guidelines under the 'Food Safety and Standards Act, 2011'. In August 2013, three of their containers worth Rs.750-1000 crores ( Rs.7.5-10 billion)- a third of which was chocolates, were held back.
FSSAI reportedly insisted on their listing down ingredients in descending order of composition by weight or volume. The company complied with the request and sent a fresh batch in January 2014 which also didn't clear the inspection because of a modified regulation which stated that chocolates with vegetable oil or fat could not be imported, says the report.
The food industry is already heavily regulated - and if an importer does not meet the labeling and packaging requirements, it's choked right at the point of entry. Food importers are growing tired of the exhaustive list of rules and regulations. This has reportedly set off an avalanche of lawsuits giving a bad name to the FSSAI, especially amongst those in the food industry.
In April 2014, a Starbucks shipment with two containers of flavoured syrup was held back at the Mumbai port as the FSSAI felt that the product did not meet their basic requirements. A Starbucks spokesperson was quoted as saying that the product in question met the requirements of over 64 countries and has been in supply for almost 40 years. Starbucks appealed to the Mumbai High Court which was quick in giving its decision and asked FSSAI to release the shipment, pointing out that they acted in an 'arbitrary and capricious manner,’ says the report.
An importer of black olives who wishes to remain anonymous has been in business for over 20 years and tells ndtv reporter how his shipment of pasteurized olives was held back over the issue of salt content. "The minimum salt content in pasteurized olives needs to be between 1 to 1.5 % but the products were tested against treated olives which are supposed to have a salt content of almost 5 %. The FSSAI was then informed that the salt content in pasteurized olives applies to international standards and is being tested against the wrong product. The FSSAI acknowledged this fact and released the consignment in question. But this problem can be repeated in the future with other importers because the rules are still the same. India is too small a market for big importers and this kind of hogwash approach will definitely drive away the big guns," he says.
It is understandable that with increased awareness consumers want to know more about what's in their food. Nobody can oppose such transparency and the importers are willing to toe the line. But current rules and regulations seem to be crippling the food (and wine) industry instead of helping them deliver safe products, concludes the news report.
For complete report, please click http://cooks.ndtv.com . If you are a wine or spirits importer in India, you would get solace knowing there are many of your brethren in the inferno as well.
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Tags: FSSAI |