FoodSafetyHelpline Experts replied to the following questions:
Question: What is the % of water content in curd according to FSSAI standards. Here people are selling curd under the name skimmed buttermilk?
Answer: As per the Food Safety & Standards Act, Rules & Regulations; Dahi shall have the same minimum percentage of milk fat and milk solids-not-fat as the milk from which it is prepared.
You can read here:
http://foodsafetyhelpline.com/2013/03/dahi-or-curd/
And the composition of the milk is here:
http://foodsafetyhelpline.com/2013/03/milk/
Question: is there no any test for the detection of the quantity of Sodium Chloride present in milk?
Answer: The presence of extraneously added Sodium Chloride in milk can be detected by silver nitrate & potassium chromate reagent. Read more:
http://www.fssai.gov.in/Portals/0/Pdf/15Manuals/MILK%20AND%20MILK%20PRODUCTS.pdf
Question: I want to start a business of spices (powder form) manufacturing, plz tell me whether it is mandatory to print nutritional information on labels or not?
Answer: It depends on the composition and nature of your products.
Question: I purchased Shakti Bhog 5 kg Atta, the date of packaging is 3/12/2015 best before 4 months. What is it 3 Dec 2015 or 12 March 2015?
Answer: In India, we mostly follow the DD/MM/YYYY format, so it will be 3rd December. Moreover, the labeling guidelines as per FSS (Packaging & Labelling) Regulations, 2011 have also discussed the same format for food product labels.
Question: I am want to know if any product is mentioned only by month then how to count the expiry date.
Answer: It would be counted from the 1st of the month.
Question: Can you please specify as who will issue a license for hard boiled sugar confectionery, is it FSSAI or BIS?
Answer: You will need a license from FSSAI and if it is in this list http://www.bis.org.in/cert/man.pdf. you must get BIS also. For all other products, BIS is voluntary.
Question: Please give some easy method for common man to identify and reduce pesticide residues in vegetables and fruits?
Answer: The best you can do is to wash it properly before using.
Question: I wish to open an eatable outlet in Maharashtra, expecting a maximum turnover of Rs.9 Lacs. Do I need to apply for both states as well as central govt? food license and also fire license? Pl, help me. I have already got Shop n Estd. license for the same.
Answer: You will just need to register online as your turnover will be below 12 L. As for the fire license you should consult with the local department as it is not our area of expertise.
Question: What kind of electronic instrumentation, test, and measurements are used or required by you to maintain the quality and safety of the foodstuff?
Answer: The answer to your question can literally run into hundreds of pages as a huge variety of instruments are used for testing the quality of products to ensure food safety. Nearly all the small and big equipment used in food testing are currently imported and very few are manufactured in India. Speaking of the top of my mind I feel there is a huge scope for developing chromatographic equipment and manufacturing them locally, currently, gas chromatographic systems are available from Indian manufacturers but HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography) systems have not been developed locally. These might be very complex and difficult to develop and you can possibly look at starting with the easier and smaller equipment.
Question: Is Irradiation of food products remove Aflatoxin Microorganism?
Answer: Irradiation kills all micro-organisms including those that produce Aflatoxin, but it can not remove the aflatoxin that has already been formed in the products.
amitava roy says
What does it actually mean by food grade packing material. Is it polymer migration only?
Dr. Saurabh Arora says
Dear Amitava, At this time the BIS standard only talks of migration test.