Indian Express: New Delhi: Monday,
April 17, 2017.
THE FOOD
regulators of Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Assam have reportedly found
nine products of major companies to be “substandard” after they failed quality
tests conducted between April 2016 and January 2017.
According to
information accessed by The Indian Express under the Right to Information (RTI)
Act, these products include Pepsico’s Mirinda, Nestle’s Cerelac Wheat, Adani’s
Fortune oil, Marico India’s Saffola oil, Parle Agro’s Frooti and a cheese
spread used by the Subway chain.
The RTI
replies show that Herbalife’s energy drink, Murugappa group’s Parry packaged
drinking water and Haldiram’s Aloo Bhujia are among the products reported to
have failed the quality tests during this period.
In a number
of cases, the companies have either questioned the test procedure or have asked
for re-analysis of the samples.
Mirinda,
soft drink, Pepsico India Holdings Private Ltd
Five reports
found Mirinda to be “substandard”. In the first report dated January 12, 2017,
the food safety officer of Gurgaon found batches of Mirinda to be “unsafe as
well as substandard”. Asked about the action taken against the company, the
officer stated in an RTI reply: “Letter (has been) sent for permission for
prosecution to commissioner of FDA (Food and Drug Administration of Haryana).”
In three probe reports April, May and October last year the state food lab of
FDA Haryana found “Mirinda” to be “misbranded”. In the fifth probe report of
October 2016, the lab found “Mirinda” to be “misbranded, substandard and
unsafe”. According to an RTI reply, the lab did not have the information
regarding the action taken in last four cases because the matter was “not
related” to its “office”.
A PepsiCo
India spokesperson said: “PepsiCo operates in the state of Haryana through its
franchisee. The franchisee has received only one of the reports (18th May 2016)
referred to by you and have requested for a reanalysis of the sample mentioned
in that report. No other notice referred by you has been received by our
franchisee… All products, including Mirinda, comply with the food regulations
and are completely safe and hence pulling out Mirinda is unwarranted.”
Cerelac
Wheat (Infant Food), Nestle India Ltd
In a report
dated October 14, 2016, this product was found to be substandard by Chief
Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) of Rajasmand district in Rajasthan. In one
RTI reply, the CMHO told The Indian Express that Cerelac failed at the quality
parameter of “total protein”. Asked what action has been taken against the
company, the officer’s RTI reply stated: “Anusandhan jaari (Investigation is
ongoing)”. The company did not respond to requests from The Indian Express
seeking comment.
Fortune,
refined rice brand oil, Adani Wilmar Ltd
The test
results were received by the CMHO of Bundi at Rajasthan on July 15, 2016. “Acid
value (of Fortune oil) was found to be 0.67, which must not be higher than
0.5,” the officer stated in an RTI reply. Asked about action taken against
Adani Wilmar, the officer’s RTI reply stated: “Anusandhanrat (Under
investigation)”. An Adani spokesperson said: “So far we have not received a
notice on Refined Rice Bran Oil from Bundi, CMO. As regards the acid value on
Rice Bran Oil, the permitted limit is 0.50, However due to the faulty procedure
(wrong indicator) adopted by many public analysts, the result may show acid
value on higher side….There is no question of withdrawing the product from
Indian Market as Rice Bran Oil is one of the healthiest oils available in the
market and our product meets the standards as provided under the Food Safety
and Standards Act, 2006.”
Saffola
Gold, blended edible vegetable oil, Marico Ltd
This product
sample was picked up on May 9 last year by food safety officer Naresh Kumar
Chenjara in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan. The probe results came on May 27, 2016,
wherein the product was declared substandard as its acid value was 1.12 instead
of the permitted limit of 0.50. “The sample of Blended Edible Vegetable Oil
(Saffola Gold) Loose bearing code number and serial number H-875 of designated
officer cum the CMHO of Sawai Madhopur is substandard as it does not conform to
the prescribed provisions of food safety and standards (Food Products Standards
and Food Additive) Regulation, 2011,” said the probe report.
In an RTI
reply, Umesh Sharma, CMHO, Sawai Madhopur, told the newspaper: “Under Food
Safety and Standards Act, 2006, (we are) submitting chargesheets in court
against the firms/manufacturers.” Marico Limited did not respond to requests
seeking comment.
Processed
cheese spread, Subway Systems Indian Private Ltd
On July 21,
2016, the food safety officer of Faridabad picked up the sample of “processed
cheese spread” from “Subway, SCF-78, Sector -15, Faridabad”. The product has
been found to be substandard as it was “misbranded”. Asked about the action
taken, the food safety officer, in a RTI reply, said: “Case pending to launch”.
The company did not respond to requests seeking comment.
Frooti,
mango drink, Parle Agro
In three
probe reports June 13, July 14 and August 2, 2016 the state public health
laboratory of Assam found “Frooti Mango drink” to be “substandard” as it failed
on the “physical” parameter. These samples, which were found substandard, were
manufactured by Padmesh Beverages at its plant in Satgaon, Guwahati, Assam.
Parle Agro has given a contract to Padmesh Beverages for Frooti manufacturing.
The Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) of Assam said in an RTI reply: “The action against
samples which have been declared substandard by the food analyst to the
government of Assam are being taken and are at different stages of adjudication
in the court of the adjudicating officers in the district headquarters of the
state.” Parle Agro did not respond to requests seeking comment.
Packaged
drinking water, Parry Enterprises India
On July 20,
2016, the food safety wing of Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu found that the aerobic
microbial count in the sample of Parry packaged water was 32 colony forming
units (CFU)/ml. As per food safety rules, the maximum limit of aerobic
microbial count in packaged water must not be more than 20 CFU/ml. A microbial
limit test checks if the presence of microorganisms such as bacteria, yeast and
mould in a sample is exceeding the limit or not. Asked about action taken
against the company, the Kanchipuram wing stated in an RTI reply that
“adjudicating process will be started against the concerned food business
operators”.
The Murugappa
group company said: “Please note that we are unable to refer to the Probe
Report you have referred above, as we have not received this report. However,
we were made aware of a test report (which reported the numbers mentioned by
you above) by Kings Institute dated 20th July which was an enclosure to a letter
from FSSAI dated 29th July, 2016, on a matter relating to labelling. We
understood that this observation made by the Test house was in itself
inaccurate and based on inadequate and perfunctory analysis as per the Act.”
Aloo
bhujia, Haldiram Foods International Private Ltd
In a probe
report of July, 2016, the state food lab of FDA Haryana found “Haldiram Aloo
Bhujia” to be “misbranded”. The state food lab did not comment on the action
taken in this probe report and said that the matter is “not related to this
office”. A product is called “misbranded” when it is not compliant with rules
in Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labeling) Regulations, 2011. The
company did not responded to requests seeking comment.
Fresh
energy drink mix, Herbalife International India Private Ltd
The sample
for this product was picked up from a shop in Model Town, Sonipat, Haryana. The
test results from the state food lab came on May 30, 2015, which stated that
the product was found to be “substandard”. Asked what action was taken against
the company, the food safety officer of Sonipat stated in an RTI reply that a
case has been “filed in ADC (Additional Deputy Commissioner) court, Sonipat”.
The company
stated: “With respect to your queries kindly be informed that the matter is sub
judice and it would not be appropriate to make any comments at this point of
time.”