❤ for Food

 The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has recently issued a notification regarding the re-operationalization of the standards of Crude Corn (maize) Oil, under Section 16(5) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. The draft FSS (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Amendment Regulations, 2022 related to the standards of Crude Corn (maize) Oil were already notified on the FSSAI website on 31.05.2022 for public comments.  The decision to re-operationalize the provision related to Crude Corn (maize) Oil is to allow the Food Business Operators (FBOs) to import the crude corn (maize) oil. As per the draft amendment regulation, the following provision shall be inserted after the entry Olive Pomace Oil in sub-regulation 2.2.9 relating to 'Solvent Extracted Crude Vegetable Oils (not for direct human consumption)': The standards for Crude Corn (maize) Oil have been specified as per the table given below: | Parameters | Crude Corn (Maize) Oil | | --- | --- |...

  The talk highlighted that achieving food security will not be possible without paying due attention to food safety. Climate change impacts, such as elevated temperatures, changes in water availability, deteriorating soil quality, extreme weather events, rising sea levels and ocean acidification all have serious implications for both biological and chemical contaminants in food and water by altering their occurrence and virulence. The increased globalization of food supply chains can also amplify foodborne hazards along the way, enhancing the chances that unsafe food produced in one side of the world can affect consumers on the other side. Moreover, foodborne illnesses are usually under-reported which makes it difficult to estimate the true foodborne disease burden and conduct timely detection of outbreaks. It is essential that continued commitment to food safety is maintained from a One Health perspective, especially in the face of climate change. More efforts are needed to adequ...

Date : 06th April 2023 The Indian government has amended the policy conditions for Meat and Meat Products, allowing them to be exported as " Halal certified " only if they are produced, processed, and packaged in a facility with a valid certification under the " India Conformity Assessment Scheme (i-CAS) Halal " of the Quality Council of India (QCI) , issued by a Certification Body duly accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) as per the guidelines issued/amended from time to time. Exporters who want to export to countries where there is a regulation on Halal must also meet the importing country's requirements/regulations, as applicable, and hold valid certificates issued by Halal certification bodies approved under the national halal system of the importing country. The Halal certification under i-CAS Halal shall be initially voluntary on the part of the producer/supplier/exporter. All existing Halal Certification Bodies ...

                                                                                                                                      Image Credit @FAO The Codex Alimentarius Commission, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has recently published the 28th edition of the Codex Alimentarius Procedural Manual on its website. The release is a significant milestone in the history of the Manual, as it incorporates the recent technical additions agreed upon by the Commission and presents the content in a new format and design in line with the Codex 60th anniversary ov...

image credits @FAO In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in developing food products from animal cells cultivated in a tank, with around 100 companies in approximately a dozen countries now producing them. However, as this latest area of #protein_innovation intensifies, the issue of nomenclature has come to the fore, raising questions about what we should call these foods and how the terminology plays into ensuring food safety. Before we can even begin to discuss food safety, we need to agree on what to call these new products. There is a range of names currently in use, including "artificial," "lab-grown," "fake," or "clean" meat. Some of these terms carry value judgments, while others such as "cultured" or "cultivated" could create potential confusion with existing products such as farmed fish or seafood. Additionally, several of the terms need to be used as qualifiers before the word "meat," which ...

The Foundation FSSC, the leading brand in Food Safety Management Systems , has released Version 6 of its FSSC 22000 scheme on March 31, 2023. This updated version aims to integrate the requirements of ISO 22003-1:2022, strengthen the requirements to support organizations in their contributions to meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) , and incorporate feedback as a result of the Version 6 development survey. FSSC 22000 schemes support the consumer goods industry in implementing effective management systems, protecting their brands, and achieving food safety targets . The Foundation aims to help organizations contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thus creating a better world. The new version will have a 12-month transition window to allow organizations to prepare for the new version and CBs for implementation and gaining accreditation. The first audits to Version 6 will commence from 01 April 2024 onwards, and all organizations must complete the V6 u...

In a significant achievement for the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) , the organization announced on March 25, 2023, the successful drafting of 11,200 food standards that are harmonized with Codex Alimentarius. This achievement is part of a broader strategy devised under the guidance of Sanjay Dave, the former Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, and with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as part of the Meeting the Undernutrition Challenge (MUCH) project in Bangladesh. The BFSA will gazette-notify the standards before the end of the year. This milestone was achieved with the help of more than 200 experts from Bangladesh and other countries, including 36 from India , who worked pro bono in 27 Technical Working Groups (TWGs) over a period of more than four months and during over 125 virtual meetings. The standards are not limited to Codex standards but also include standards of the United States of America, the European Union, India, existing ...