Standards for food and beverages by year-end

India is going to set standards for food and beverages by the end of the year, which will hopefully end the problem of adulteration, disclosed Subodh Kant Sahay, minister of state for food and processing industries.

"We had a series of meetings in the recent past on setting food standards. We are meeting again on September 29 to discuss the standards and various action plans," said Sahay, speaking on the occasion of an awards ceremony of The Solvent Extractors' Association of India.

Consumers have become demanding in recent times and they are opting for quality products. Hence, it is the need of the hour to set standards, the minister said, without touching upon the recent cola controversy.

The food processing industry is growing at a rapid pace of 20 per cent in the last 3 years after a restricted growth of 7.5 per cent till 2003.

There would be a boost in demand for quality food products once the 60 new millennium cities, which are in various stages of progress, would be complete.

Earlier, the demand for quality food products was restricted only to four major metros, Sahay said.

The minister accepted the failure of tackling problems faced by the food processing sector, but assured that the government is paying full attention and would plug the loopholes.

The oil extraction sector, which is growing rapidly, is affected by the vagaries of nature, like erratic monsoon. Besides, many man-made problems, which impact the industry, can be sorted out jointly by the ministries of food processing, agriculture and the industry bodies.