The following Paras outline the principal achievements by The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in the month of October 2019, ranging from setting targets in the war against Trans Fats to launching of new Programmes and Schemes in the Focus Areas while keeping abreast of developments in the International Arena through participation in Conferences in India and abroad.
Forays in Focus Areas :
Took part in the 8th International Chefs Conference conducted by the Indian Federation of Culinary Associations (IFCA) held at Pullman Hotel, New Delhi, between 3rd and 5th October 2019. The “Trans Fat Free” Logo of FSSAI was launched by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Health Minister in the Central Govt., an important event in the war against Trans-Fats.
FSSAI has set a motto ‘India@75 -Freedom from Trans Fats’, with the aim of reducing Industrially produced trans fatty acids to less than 2% by the year 2022. During the Conference, over 1000 Chefs from all over India took a pledge to use trans fat free oils in their recipes and raised the slogan ‘Chefs 4 Trans Fat free’.
Celebrated the theme ‘Healthy Diets for Zero Hunger’ at the World Food Day celebrations on 16th October 2019, which was graced by
- HARSH VARDHAN, Union Health Minister
- K SUBRAMANIAN, Chief Economic Advisor to Govt. of India
- ARUN MAIRA, ex Member, Planning Commission
The Honourable Health Minister launched the following FSSAI initiatives :
- Food Safety Mitra (FSM) Scheme , for small and medium food related businesses
- To help in licensing and Registration procedures
- Training towards maintaining hygiene ratings
- Provide Job opportunities for the youth with a background in food and nutrition
- Introduction of a Jacket to be worn by enforcement staff to facilitate transparency during Inspections
- The Jackets would have RFID Tag and QR Code for tracking and identification
- The Jackets would have space for housing Tablets and similar Smart Devices
- Introduction of an ‘Eat Right Jhola’ (a reusable cloth bag for grocery shopping)
- Release of Short Films, as under :
- Reprocessing of used cooking oil into bio-diesel
- Nutrition in the first thousand days of life of a child
- Training Courses for Home Makers, to be conducted across the Country, in partnership with Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
Continuing previous activities in Focus Areas :
Issued Final Notifications regarding Food Safety Standards to be published for
- Decaffeinated Coffee
- Revised Standards for Packaged Drinking Water
Draft Food Safety and Standards (Safe Foods and Healthy Diet for School Children) Regulations 2019 issued for eliciting comments from the public.
FSSAI took part in the following events to promote public awareness, consumer education as also to publicize the engagements with various stakeholders.
- 6th Vibrant India (2019) show and the ‘Meri Dilli Utsav 2019’ held at Pitampura Dilli Haat between 18th-20th October 2019
- Diwali Mela held at New Moti Bagh on 13th October 2019
Notification issued to designate FSSAI and Customs Officials of certain ranks to act as Authorized Officers at 150 locations across the Country.
[ Order No. 1-1715/FSSAI/Imports/2017 dated 09.10.2019 appointing any official of the rank of Superintendent/Appraiser/Inspector/Examiner at Airports/ Sea Ports/ICD/LCS/SEZ as Authorized Officers under Section 25, read with Section 47(5) of FSS Act, 2006 and Regulation 13 (1) of FSS (Import) Regulation, 2017]
Conducted a Workshop on 18th October 2019 under the Chairmanship of Divisional Commissioner, Additional Chief Secretary and the Food Commissioner, Karnataka, for the State FDA and FBOs of the State of Karnataka, for Scaling up Food Fortification.
A total of 685 Training Programmes have been conducted in October 2019, under the FoSTaC (Food Safety Training and Certification) intiative.
Capacity Building and Strengthening of Testing Infrastructure and Support Systems:
Grants to State Food Testing Laboratories
- A grant of Rs. 50 lakhs (Rupees Fifty Lakhs only) has been released to the State of Goa for setting up Microbiology, under CSS Capacity Building
- A Training Programme on Good Food Laboratory Practice was conducted at Edward Food Research & Analysis Centre Ltd., Kolkata, between 15th-17th October 2019, Food Analysts and other Scientific/Technical personnel working in the State Food Testing Laboratories and Notified Laboratories.
- Training Programme for Food Analysts from State Food Laboratories, on “Multi Pesticide Residue Analysis in Fruits and Vegetables” organized at Food Safety Solution Centre (FSSC) of the National Food Laboratory (NFL), Ghaziabad, between 14th-18th October 2019.
- Two additional Food Safety on Wheels (FSWs) have been sanctioned to State of Chhattisgarh and one additional FSW has been sanctioned to the State of Assam, thereby raising the total number of sanctioned FSWs from 51 to 54.
- On the basis of the 6th Food Analysts Examination, 2019, the Food Analysts Examination Board, in its meeting on 30.10.2019, declared 61 candidates as qualified for “Food Analysts”, raising the number of Food Analysts/ Public Analysts from 391 to 452.
International Initiatives :
At the 21st Session of the Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (CCFFV), held in Monterrey in Mexico, between 7th-11th October 2019, India’s proposal on the “Proposed Draft Standards on Ware Potatoes” was forwarded for adoption at the forthcoming session of Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC 43, 2020). The In-Session working Group on this Document was chaired by India.
The US-CCASIA Colloquium, held between 14th-16th October 2019, was co-hosted by India and the US. The Agenda Items of the following Codex Committee Meetings were discussed :
- Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH)
- Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for special Dietary uses (CCNFSDU)
- Ad-hoc Codex Intergovernmental Task Force on Anti-microbial Resistance (TFAMR)
Workshop on Chemical Risk Analysis Framework for Food Safety was organized between 21st-24th October 2019 at the IITR, Lucknow under the Joint Codex Trust Fund 2 (CTF2)
Project . Participants were from different Government Institutions of India, Nepal and Bhutan. Teaching faculties were from India, Canada, Germany and Hong Kong.
As a result of this Workshop, a pool of Food Professionals has been trained as Risk Assessors, to be utilized by FSSAI for taking Risk Management Decisions re: contaminants in food, posing health risks.
It can be seen that FSSAI is following up on a continuous basis its Programme Implementation for upgradation of Standards for the Food Industry with the sole aim of meeting its long term goal of bringing about an overall improvement in the Health of the Nation.
Source: FSSAI
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