Food samples to be checked regularly at labs: Nadda

Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda on Tuesday said samples of food items will continue to be drawn by the state food safety officers and sent for analysis at the FSSAI authorised laboratories.

In a written reply on the issue in the Rajya Sabha, the minister said that in cases where samples are found not to be conforming to the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and regulations 2011, action is being taken against them.

FSSAI or Food Safety and Standards Authority of India is a regulatory body to enforce safety standards of packaged and other food in the country.

"The FSSAI has ordered recall of the food products, and/or withdrawn the provisional 'No Objection Certificates' (NOCs) issued in respect of various food products manufactured by MNCs who violated the provisions of the FSS Act or Regulations there under," Nadda said.

"Some of the food products are Maggi instant noodles, Monster energy drink, Cloud 9 energy drink, Tzinga energy drink and Akoaroma flavoured water," he added.

Besides, safety standards of food items have been notified in respect of around 365 categories of products. These standards are enforced by the food safety departments of the states and union territories.

On Maggi noodles, the minister said samples of the Nestle's Maggi noodles have been found to be containing more than the permissible limit of 2.5 ppm of lead. They have also been found to be violating the labelling requirements as far as presence of Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is concerned.

He, however, said that no report was received by the FSSAI indicating the presence of detergent in Mother Dairy's milk samples.

--Indo-Asian news Service

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