THE GRATE FOOD SAFETY "MESS"-INDIAN SCENARIO!

India is known for the diversity of foods consumed by different ethnic groups spread across the country. In the absence of reliable figures, it has been suggested that there are over 5000 such foods and if variations in recipes is taken into account the number may go beyond 1 lakh. But no one can vouch safe for this number because the ethnic food sector is a much neglected one with hardly any attention from the government or the scientific community. According to National Association of Street Vendors (NASVI) there are over 10 million street vendors alone spread across thousands of towns and cities serving at least hundred different types of food preparations, mostly cooked and served on the side of major road net works frequented by people. Added to these there are over a million small, medium and big restaurants in the country with a decent roof over them attracting a billion customers every day. 

It is very true that Indians do not have the habit of frequently eating out side their homes and such eating when it happens may be far and few. It is estimated that number of visits to restaurants by a family may vary from once or twice a year to a week in a month depending the affluence and disposable incomes. Compared to earlier generations, many nucleus families emerging from the shadows of their parents are increasingly patronizing restaurants because of affluence and lesser time available for home cooking due to their work place demands. In contrast, in some countries, especially in South East Asia, the kitchen size is shrinking rapidly while in many new residential complexes no kitchen is provided at all making the population dependent on foods cooked away from home. 

Against such a background, India can rightly be "proud" that food safety poisoning cases are far and few compared to those in many "sanitized" countries like USA and Europe. This could be due to under reporting of food poisoning incidences or attributed to the "tough" gastrointestinal features that make them immune to even the worst quality of foods served to them! Whether the street food vendor or the under the roof food provider, there is much to be desired as far their hygienic and sanitation standards are concerned. Filthy kitchen, unsafe water and utensils, sub standard ingredients, unhygienic personnel, dirty serving tables etc make these eateries a veritable "danger" spots for those with weak stomachs! One redeeming feature is that Indian cuisine is basically "hot food based" with the heat killing most of the pathogens which might have contaminated the food before cooking. 

With free availability of cheap drugs that can control stomach upsets, most food related episodes never reach the doors of a physician or a hospital and therefore do not enter into record books. It is a fact that a few drugs which are banned all over the world are still available in the country across the counter of a pharmacy store and people do not seem to be so much bothered about minor episodes of stomach upset caused by consuming food preparations from a street vendor or a small time restaurant. Incidences of common diarrhea, jaundice and other GI related episodes, mostly caused by contaminated water are becoming less frequent with the popularity of bottled drinking water carrying the safety mark of ISI. 

When the FSSAI rules were promulgated every eatery was supposed to have a registration or license for operation and it is almost two years since the rules were promulgated. Though the time period for complying with these rules were extended from time to time, the government (GOI) assumed a belligerent posture refusing to give further extension for licensing beyond February 4 2014. However GOI eventually buckled under pressure from the food service industry extending the last date further to august 4 this year. Two critical questions that demand answers involve what the industry was doing for the last several years when the contours of the rules were being framed and why the FSSAI did not anticipate the so called problems being aired by the industry now?

A charitable view may be that FSSAI is conceding the point that operating the food safety system has some practical difficulties. If so extending the last date must be appreciated. But there is a feeling that no one in the country is taking FSSAI seriously and hence this prevarication and obfuscation! On the face of it the FSSAI provision for compulsory registration has a justification because this only can trace the origin of any mishap, if and when occurs, to its source. On the other hand every trade in a civic area requires local licensing and why this arrangement cannot be used in disciplining the eateries within their areas? It is argued that eateries are already burdened by many punitive rules under the state dispensation and FSSAI regulatory rules are obviously an added burden to them. It is as well that government of India has a re-look at the food regulatory regime in the country and address the problems of all stake holders.   

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

"CHEAP" EATERIES FOR LOW COST FOODS-THE CHENNAI INITIATIVE

The most difficult process of selecting an eatery, when a family goes for an outing for food, is the quality of food served though cleanliness and safety also are factors that do weigh in the minds of customers. Recent trend in India is for the catering joints to raise the prices of items served, indiscriminately for no rhyme or reason, though the food inflation has dipped into the negative zone. Even a small restaurant is charging its customers exorbitantly making it difficult for low income families to eat outside their home more frequently. Pressure of work, inadequate leisure time and other compulsions make outside eating inevitable whether one likes it or not. Under such a difficult situation there is an urgent need for making the cateing sector realize the folly of continuing with such a suicidal course of "killing the Goose that lays golden egg". To some extent the street vendors are providing relief to such harassed citizens by serving foods at reasonable price though their preparation and serving environment cannot be called satisfactory.

In spite of lot of talk and after hundreds of conferences on street foods, nothing precious has happened to modernize the street vending sector and most vendors in almost all cities and towns across the country continue in despicable state. Surprisingly their clientele is only growing by leaps and bounds and they include even well heeled people who just cannot resist the hot steaming food and many tasty preparations doled out by them. In countries like Malaysia, Pakistan etc there are food plazas in strategic places where the erstwhile street vendors are aggregated into a single place, easy and convenient for the customers. These plazas are adequately equipped with the necessary wherewithal to maintain good hygiene and sanitation besides other facilities so necessary to prevent food related episodes of serious nature occuring. This trend is yet to appear in India and the haphazard  street vending food industry continues to languish with potential danger to the health of millions of regular customers.

The Food Truck movement in the US is an offshoot of the "arrogance" and "insensitivity" of the established catering industry which never bothered to provide customized service expected from them besides increasing the price of their offerings to unreasonable levels unacceptable to many customers. To day the Food Truck business is posing a direct challenge to the established players in many cities across the US. It is time Indian catering sector sees the writing on the wall and address the concerns of its patrons who provide "bread and butter" for its survival! It is entirely possible that in India also a Food Truck movement may start eventually to give a better and more affordable alternative to the much harassed Indian customers. 

Maximum exploitation of citizens and their vulnerability takes place in religious and pilgrim centers where the customers are "fleeced" till they bleed with no succour coming from the local civic authorities and food being an essential item for survival the visitors are literally "extorted" to pay whatever is demanded for keeping their body and soul together! Same is true in bus stations and Railway platforms across the country where it is "free for all" situation with the monopoly caterer selling cheap imitations of popular brands and sub-standard foods at exorbitant prices. It is time that the state governments and civic authorities across the country wake up and take effective measures to prevent such out right "thuggery" in front of their eyes allowing the perpetrators  to go Scot-free. Such negligence can only make the lives of the citizens more and more miserable, especially when they step out of their home.

Recent announcement by the civic authorities in Chennai that they would provide relief to thousands of visitors to the city through a program of setting up low cost food out lets that would serve good foods at reasonable price is indeed welcome. According to the Municipal Authorities there, the concept of 'Kai yendhi bhavan' or roadside eateries would be translated into reality by setting up around 1,000 eateries across the city which would hopefully provide quality, hygienic food to the city's floating population of 10 lakh every day. The targeted beneficiaries include daily wage laborers, auto rickshaw drivers, unorganized workers, and school and college children who can expect to get breakfast and lunch items every day. To start with the Corporation expects to set up 200 such eateries on a trial basis immediately. Those already running roadside eateries can be expected to get preference though they would be wage earners without proprietorship of the out lets.  If the proposal materializes many self-help group members with reputation can be expected to be roped in to prepare food and transport it to the eateries. According to the proposal mooted, the food is to be prepared at the four existing community kitchens of the Corporation from where it is supplied to relief centers during the monsoons. The commodities would be procured from the government owned Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation at right prices. Of course there could be a slip between the "cup and the lips", if the state government does not accord permission to the Corporation's initiative. 

A natural question that arises in this context is whether any government agency is really equipped with the wherewithal of running a business successfully and if the past experience is any indication the success of the new program may be somewhat tenuous. But skepticism is not justified when people fired with enthusiasm, even in the government, are driven by such noble intentions and the program must be given a decent trial before expanding the same further. If the bureaucratic mind set and usual red tapism associated with government endeavors yield to dynamism, hard work, dedication and mission mentality, there is no way this experiment can fail. If successful, such efforts must be replicated in all states with continuous improvements being incorporated into the Chennai model based on the experience gained.  

Update 19/6/2012
Here is a comment from Chennai on the above publication:

Dear Sir:

I recently came across your blog and in it the article about the 1000 cheap eateries that the Chennai Corporation has planned to set up.

In this context I wanted to introduce to you our own project in Chennai that has successfully set up a back end facility for producing 30000 meals and at the front end, over 50 road side eateries that sell our food. There is no onsite cooking. The women who operate these kiosks earn between Rs 200 and Rs 300 per day, depending on their business volume. We are non profit aiming to empower women and at the same time offer some food security to the community through affordable, hygienic food.

Please find more information about our work at www.ecokitchen.org. If you happen to be in Chennai we would be glad to show you our project.

Sincerely, Ganesh



V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

RESTAURANT FOODS-WHY NOT AN "RTI" REGIME FOR CONSUMERS?

Food manufacturers world over are increasingly adopting transparent marketing practices that enable consumers of processed packed foods to know what exactly they are buying. The labeling regulations in place make it mandatory to declare the nutritional profile of the products in side a food pack, the most important from the health angle being total calories, fat, salt and sugar. Those who have to watch out against putting on weight can use discretion in selecting foods that are low in calories and fat while others guarding against blood pressure and diabetes can avoid products rich in salt and sugar. In general even those who are healthy are better advised to exercise caution in binging on foods high in fat, sugar and salt to safeguard against developing some of the life style diseases like diabetes, atherosclerosis, blood pressure and others. Looking back, except for a few black sheep, food industry as a whole have lived up to the expectation of the consumers in bringing the much needed transparency in its activities, though much more can be done to increase the level of confidence by voluntary action.

Same cannot be said about the unorganized sector of food industry such as those existing in many developing countries. Strangely the obligation to be transparent applies only when the food is packed by the organized industry and those foods vended loosely can get way with many wrong doings about which the consumers and the enforcement agencies are aware of without being able to do any thing. Many small retailers make their own food products like snacks, savories, sweets, spice powders and similar items which are offered across the sales counter, packed loosely and consumers do recognize that such foods cannot be kept for long because of high potential to get spoiled. But absence of a system to compel such processors to at least display the nutritional profile of the products provided by them can be helpful to the consumer. Taking potato chips as an example, difference in the oil content between the branded and the loosely vended products can be as high as 50%, the latter being high in oil due to many reasons. How many consumers are aware of this?

Eateries or the restaurants are a class by them selves with their clients focusing more on taste rather than hygiene or cleanliness. With hundreds of products offered for consumption on the spot or as "take away" foods, it is any body's guess as to the calorie or fat or salt or the sugar content in them. There can be enormous variations in composition from one restaurant to another, confusing the customers further. With eating out still confined to smaller populations in urban regions and not as widespread as in western countries, the problem of restaurant foods causing health related damages is not so serious at present but it can assume alarming proportion if the current trend of growth of catering sector in the country is kept in view.

The safety of foods in public eateries including street vending comes under the purview of the civic bodies and public health officials are supposed to be concerned only about hygiene of the environment and wholesomeness of the products served so that incidence of food borne diseases is avoided. Regulation is done through control of licensing such eating joints. Neither the PFA authorities nor the civic bodies are aware of the anti-health potential of prepared foods because of high calories, fat, sugar and salt. This is where government intervention is called for in persuading all eating joints to display along the price list the calorie and fat content of each preparation offered by them. If implemented this is a good start to wards evolving a more transparent relationship between the customers and the caterers. There can be much reluctance and resistance from the catering industry because of apprehension about loss of business but unless this is done there will not be any incentive to bring about innovations in foods to make them more healthy without sacrificing the organoleptic quality.

There can be many problems in implementing a scheme like the one proposed above but over a period of time these can be overcome, given the cooperation between the government and the catering industry. Health of the population in a country cannot be left to the discretion of the catering industry and there must be some guidelines which, if not adopted voluntarily, must be enforced to make people choose wisely when ever they visit public eateries.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

"GOVERNMENT" EATERIES-ANY TAKERS?

The ruling elites in this country seem to be convinced that government has the answer to every problem citizens face and in turn people, conditioned as they are to the benevolence of the government look upon it to solve all their problems! It is understandable that a responsible government must be sensitive to the difficulties faced by its citizens and bring socour to them through the financial and policy tools but entering into business for helping them, whatever be the justification, cannot be practical. There are hundreds of examples that can be drawn from recent history of this country, especially between 1947 and 1990, to prove that "doing business is not government's business" as its administrative mindset is not synonymous with entrepreneurship and eventually these public enterprises become 'millstones' around its neck. Besides bringing practically no returns on the massive investments in the public sector, most of them become a drain on the exchequer to keep them afloat. According to the latest estimates all public sector industries put to gether have incurred a mammoth loss of Rs 93000 crore compared to Rs 65000 crore the previous year! If this is the case, why not the governments, both at the state and the central levels, desist from starting new 'white elephants' in the name of the hapless citizens?

The provocation for this issue of the blog is the reported news emanating from Kerala, a state touted all over the world as "God's Own Country", that the 'enlightened' government there is contemplating setting up 'fair price hotels' all over the state for the benefit of the common man. The premise is that hotels which are operating presently are fleecing the people by charging exorbitantly for their service and poor man is denied the 'pleasure' of eating hotel foods as rich people do. Such a brain wave coming from a government identified with poor people may appear logical. But consider for a moment how such a quixotic proposal can be implemented in a state where per capita income is one of the highest in the country, inflow of foreign money from expatriates is substantial, the literacy rate is highest, the wages rule very high and a reasonably good PDS system ensures availability of food at subsidized rates for almost the entire population. Besides Kerala, unlike its neighbors Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh, does not have adequate decent eateries, probably on account of the 'low eating out' habit amongst its population. How a government can do better than the private sector in the catering area is beyond one's comprehension.

Many states have Tourism Development Corporations (TDCs) set up to attract tourists from far and wide and generally restaurants are part of the hotels under them. Except for a few, most TDCs are not functioning well and exist only because of the low tariff for their lodging facilities compared to their private sector counterparts. The quality of food served in their restaurants, at best, can be termed tolerable, reflecting the ground reality that exists to day. If this is so why does the government want to venture into so called fair price hotels? What is a fair price for a decent meal? Who decides the real cost of preparing the meal? How is the costing to be done, considering that any government operation will always carry a heavy over head cost that has to be passed on to the consumer? According to scanty information available, probably government wants catering entrepreneurs to approach it for setting up eateries in urban and semi urban areas and raw materials would be offered to them at subsidized prices through the state controlled Civil Supplies Corporation. Such a model if it works and if there are takers, could be more viable than setting up governmental hotels in the name of controlling prices. Of course there still will be many constraints in putting such precepts into practice. With real estate rates galloping day by day in a state starved of land, how any entrepreneur can get a decent place to start hotel business, all from the scratch? Will government offer the required facilities like building, water, electricity, drainage, waste disposal, toilet facilities etc that are essential for hotel business? Most important, how can government ensure that the so called fair price hotels will really offer safe and quality foods at fair price and will not divert the subsidized inputs to the open market?

It is understandable that government can intervene in such areas considered essential like medicines and basic food supply at affordable cost and probably Kerala is doing well in these areas with their fair price shops for food grains, sugar, edible oil etc, fuels like kerosene, and perishables vegetables and fruits, truly reflecting its credentials as a welfare state. But by entering into sectors like catering or vending liquor may be disastrous in the long run as both these areas cannot be considered critical to the survival of its citizens. If such a philosophy is extended, government may have to intervene in almost all sectors like entertainment, housing, many service sectors, air travel and almost all industrial operations in the name of helping out the citizens. Is it feasible, practical or logistically right? Government must give good governance, instead of imposing itself on the population what it 'feels' right without really knowing what people want!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/

LOOK AT THE MIRROR, SAVE YOURSELF!

Over weight, obesity, BMI and similar words always instill a sense of fear amongst people, especially those self conscious of their body weight changes at different phases of their life. No matter what doctors and nutritionists say about the connection between heart diseases and food consumption, very few take them seriously as the repercussions are not immediate to be perceptible on a day to day basis. Every body must be aware that over eating is the major reason for life style disorders like Cardio Vascular Disease (CVD) but still indulge in calorie rich foods because either such foods are easily available or they do not have the ability to gauge the caloric load and high fat contents in many foods. Intervention in States like California in the US is some times criticized because many think it is infringing on individuals' right to eat what he needs or likes. But is this stand sustainable when the whole nation's health is affected by injudicious consumption habits fostered by the environment, the State itself has created in the name of value addition and industrial development under a free economy? California, a progressive State gained attention recently because of its two actions in disciplining the food sector and restraining them from making available unbalanced foods through state policies. First it proposed to bring in zoning regulations to ban setting up of fast food out lets near newly laid residential lay outs so that the residents will have to travel some distance before gaining access to so called junk foods with empty calories. Second, the insistence on declaring nutritional composition of every food served in the restaurants is intended to sensitize the consumer regarding high calories and high fats.

According to a new study at the famous DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center in Houston, many people can be saved from heart diseases if a conscious attempt is made even to reduce some weight instead of aiming to reach ideal BMI through rigorous dieting which puts off many people from even trying. For example if a person's ideal weight is 60 kg and the actual weight is 75 kg, the 20% weight reduction to be achieved probably would never be feasible unless very rigorous diet and exercise regimes are imposed. But the new study gives great hope to such persons to save themselves from CVD and other diseases through a limited attempt to reduce their weight by as little as 6.5% to get significant benefits. What are these so called benefits? If the report from this Center is to be believed, such benefits include substantial reductions in blood pressure, triglycerides and total cholesterol, which in turn will reduce dramatically the risks associated with CVD. More significantly these impressive results occur early in the weight loss regime, well before the individuals even begin to approach their ideal body weight. Since this study was done in the internationally reputed heart institute, millions of people may derive solace and relief by raising their spirit and getting into modest weight losing programs.

Restaurants in India are being pulled from two directions, one from the consumers and the other from the nutritionists. Their reputation lies in serving best tasting foods in their out lets which obviously is possible only by using high fats and lot of frying, both considered dangerous from the health point of view. But nutritionists want them to design balanced preparations, avoid trans fats, saturated fats, acrylamides etc. With keen competition for the attention of the customers, many caterers are reluctant to modify their traditional recipes and cooking modes and this ensues a vicious cycle trapping both the consumers and the hoteliers. With eating out practice not widely prevalent now, the role of eateries in aggravating the current over weight traits in people is rather limited but in future such a situation may arise especially in metro regions where high family income and time constraints will drive customers in droves to restaurants. If proper strategy is drawn now to pre-empt serving of high fat, high calorie, less fiber foods in public eateries, the nation can avoid uncontrolled growth of obesity and accompanying morbidity in coming years. Restaurant sector must be forced to include at least 20% of their offerings with low fats, low sugar, trans fat free, high fiber, low sodium and other beneficial plant ingredients. Agencies like MFPI, Ministry of Health, DST, DBT, ICAR, National Horticulture Board and National Dairy Development Board must pool their resources to help the hoteliers by sponsoring R & D in competent organizations for developing healthy foods and making the recipes available to them.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/