INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF PROF. K.V.THOMAS, HON’BLE MINISTER OF STATE (I/C)
OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
AT THE NATIONAL SEMINAR ON ‘FOOD SAFETY – ROLE OF STANDARDS’
ON 28TH MAY, 2012 AT THE CENTER HOTEL, THE AVENUE CENTER, KOCHI:
Dignitaries on the Dias and distinguished participants:
It is a matter of great pleasure that Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is organizing this National Seminar on “Food Safety – Role of Standards” so as to create awareness and to provide an insight into the concept of Food safety with special focus on the role of standards for the larger benefit of public health.
We live in an age of contamination: of environment, food, water and of most other ingredients essential to human existence. For this reason this seminar, focused on one of these aspects, namely food safety, is of immense relevance to our individual and collective wellbeing.
"We are what we eat" is an old proverb. Our Scriptures say, “Annam Brahma, Raso Vishnu, Bhokta deva Maheshwara" (Food is Brahma, the essence in it is Vishnu, and the one who partakes of it is Maheshwara the lord Himself). The act of consuming food is considered to be a Yajna (sacrifice) and the offering goes to the digestive fire in the belly called Jattaragni. Our nutritional status, health, physical and mental faculties depend on the food we eat. Access to good quality food has been man's main endeavour from the earliest days of human existence. Food quality can be considered as a complex characteristic of food such as nutritional value, appearance, colour, texture and taste that determines its value or acceptability to consumers. Safety of food is a non-negotiable basic requirement of food quality.
"Food safety" implies absence or acceptable and safe levels of contaminants, adulterants, naturally occurring toxins or any other substance that may make food injurious to health on an acute or chronic basis. This definition implies that food safety goes beyond cheating on ingredients. It endangers life.
Food Safety has been a matter of concern in all ages. Kautilya’s Arthashastra has a section on the control of butchers and prescribes punishment for selling bad meat or fish. Perhaps malpractices with regard to other edibles did not exist then and until the advent of the modern age, man-made contaminants were not a serious factor.
Today, it is a matter of growing national and global concern. India has made significant strides over the past several decades in food production and in its exports. India is number one in the production of milk, sugarcane, cashew and spices and the second largest producer of rice, wheat, pulses, fruits (after Brazil) and vegetables (after China).
Although significant progress has been made in India in making food safer, millions of people still fall ill each year from eating contaminated food. Consumers are taking unprecedented interest in the way food is produced, processed and marketed, and are increasingly calling for strong initiatives from government and industry for food safety and consumer protection.
There is also an external dimension to the issue of food safety. We live in a world where food and agricultural products is an important segment of world trade. The globalization of the food trade offers many benefits to consumers, as it results in a wider variety of high-quality foods that are accessible and affordable. Global food trade also provides opportunities to earn foreign exchange, though, in order to be a successful food exporter, a country must produce food that is acceptable to consumers in other countries and which complies with the regulatory or statutory requirements of the importing countries.
Viewed from these angles, role of standards in the domain of food safety is immense. The main objectives behind formulation of standards include:
Promoting public health by reducing the risk of food borne illness;
Protecting consumers from unsanitary, unwholesome, mislabelled or adulterated food; and
Providing a sound regulatory foundation for domestic and international trade in food.
In this background, the role of Bureau of Indian Standards, the National standard body of India is significant. BIS is engaged in standards formulation and conformity assessment. It has made significant contribution by way of formulating a number of Indian Standards in various fields in accordance with the needs and priorities of our country and adopting various International Standards to suit our national conditions. BIS has formulated about 18700 Indian Standards, covering various technological areas. About 88% of Indian Standards have already been harmonized to International Standards where such International Standards exist. BIS has been promoting these Indian Standards through organization of seminars, like this one.
BIS has also formulated about 1000 Indian Standards in the area of food products and food safety. This includes IS/ISO 22000: 2005 ‘Food Safety Management Systems – Requirements for any organization in the food chain’. This is an internationally harmonized standard that specifies the requirements for a food safety management system, up to the point of final consumption. IS/ISO 22000: 2005 has emerged as the international bench mark for food safety.
Similarly, the three Indian Standards recently formulated by BIS which have been released just now, such as, Indian Standards on Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Good Hygienic Practices (GHP) and Food Retail Management (FRM) are also important in this respect as they act as prerequisite programmes (PRPs). And they delineate the basic conditions and activities that are necessary to maintain a hygienic environment throughout the food chain suitable for the production, handling and provision of safe end products and safe food for human consumption.
Friends, another area that merits special attention in this context is that of street foods and street food vendors. Recent growth in this sector has been phenomenal with important economic and nutritional implications in the urban context. Readily accessible and affordable to urban populations, they provide the energy and nutrient needs to large segments of workers and their families in the cities. In this scenario, BIS has recently finalized Indian Standard on basic requirements for street food vendors and I feel this is a noteworthy initiative by BIS.
These Indian Standards have immense potential to safeguard public health and also promote the confidence of the consumer on entire gamut of food industry, if implemented efficiently. Implementation of these standards can give rise to exceptional improvements in food safety performance, but requires high level of commitment and full functional involvement of all stakeholders, particularly the industry.
I wish and I am sure that this seminar will provide a good platform for mutual sharing of views to meet and resolve the challenges in ensuring and implementing Food Safety and Standardization. I wish the organizers and participants all the best in this endeavor and hope that this initiative will contribute to the ultimate objective of ensuring the food safety for our citizens. With these words, I, formally inaugurate the seminar.
OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
AT THE NATIONAL SEMINAR ON ‘FOOD SAFETY – ROLE OF STANDARDS’
ON 28TH MAY, 2012 AT THE CENTER HOTEL, THE AVENUE CENTER, KOCHI:
Dignitaries on the Dias and distinguished participants:
It is a matter of great pleasure that Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is organizing this National Seminar on “Food Safety – Role of Standards” so as to create awareness and to provide an insight into the concept of Food safety with special focus on the role of standards for the larger benefit of public health.
We live in an age of contamination: of environment, food, water and of most other ingredients essential to human existence. For this reason this seminar, focused on one of these aspects, namely food safety, is of immense relevance to our individual and collective wellbeing.
"We are what we eat" is an old proverb. Our Scriptures say, “Annam Brahma, Raso Vishnu, Bhokta deva Maheshwara" (Food is Brahma, the essence in it is Vishnu, and the one who partakes of it is Maheshwara the lord Himself). The act of consuming food is considered to be a Yajna (sacrifice) and the offering goes to the digestive fire in the belly called Jattaragni. Our nutritional status, health, physical and mental faculties depend on the food we eat. Access to good quality food has been man's main endeavour from the earliest days of human existence. Food quality can be considered as a complex characteristic of food such as nutritional value, appearance, colour, texture and taste that determines its value or acceptability to consumers. Safety of food is a non-negotiable basic requirement of food quality.
"Food safety" implies absence or acceptable and safe levels of contaminants, adulterants, naturally occurring toxins or any other substance that may make food injurious to health on an acute or chronic basis. This definition implies that food safety goes beyond cheating on ingredients. It endangers life.
Food Safety has been a matter of concern in all ages. Kautilya’s Arthashastra has a section on the control of butchers and prescribes punishment for selling bad meat or fish. Perhaps malpractices with regard to other edibles did not exist then and until the advent of the modern age, man-made contaminants were not a serious factor.
Today, it is a matter of growing national and global concern. India has made significant strides over the past several decades in food production and in its exports. India is number one in the production of milk, sugarcane, cashew and spices and the second largest producer of rice, wheat, pulses, fruits (after Brazil) and vegetables (after China).
Although significant progress has been made in India in making food safer, millions of people still fall ill each year from eating contaminated food. Consumers are taking unprecedented interest in the way food is produced, processed and marketed, and are increasingly calling for strong initiatives from government and industry for food safety and consumer protection.
There is also an external dimension to the issue of food safety. We live in a world where food and agricultural products is an important segment of world trade. The globalization of the food trade offers many benefits to consumers, as it results in a wider variety of high-quality foods that are accessible and affordable. Global food trade also provides opportunities to earn foreign exchange, though, in order to be a successful food exporter, a country must produce food that is acceptable to consumers in other countries and which complies with the regulatory or statutory requirements of the importing countries.
Viewed from these angles, role of standards in the domain of food safety is immense. The main objectives behind formulation of standards include:
Promoting public health by reducing the risk of food borne illness;
Protecting consumers from unsanitary, unwholesome, mislabelled or adulterated food; and
Providing a sound regulatory foundation for domestic and international trade in food.
In this background, the role of Bureau of Indian Standards, the National standard body of India is significant. BIS is engaged in standards formulation and conformity assessment. It has made significant contribution by way of formulating a number of Indian Standards in various fields in accordance with the needs and priorities of our country and adopting various International Standards to suit our national conditions. BIS has formulated about 18700 Indian Standards, covering various technological areas. About 88% of Indian Standards have already been harmonized to International Standards where such International Standards exist. BIS has been promoting these Indian Standards through organization of seminars, like this one.
BIS has also formulated about 1000 Indian Standards in the area of food products and food safety. This includes IS/ISO 22000: 2005 ‘Food Safety Management Systems – Requirements for any organization in the food chain’. This is an internationally harmonized standard that specifies the requirements for a food safety management system, up to the point of final consumption. IS/ISO 22000: 2005 has emerged as the international bench mark for food safety.
Similarly, the three Indian Standards recently formulated by BIS which have been released just now, such as, Indian Standards on Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Good Hygienic Practices (GHP) and Food Retail Management (FRM) are also important in this respect as they act as prerequisite programmes (PRPs). And they delineate the basic conditions and activities that are necessary to maintain a hygienic environment throughout the food chain suitable for the production, handling and provision of safe end products and safe food for human consumption.
Friends, another area that merits special attention in this context is that of street foods and street food vendors. Recent growth in this sector has been phenomenal with important economic and nutritional implications in the urban context. Readily accessible and affordable to urban populations, they provide the energy and nutrient needs to large segments of workers and their families in the cities. In this scenario, BIS has recently finalized Indian Standard on basic requirements for street food vendors and I feel this is a noteworthy initiative by BIS.
These Indian Standards have immense potential to safeguard public health and also promote the confidence of the consumer on entire gamut of food industry, if implemented efficiently. Implementation of these standards can give rise to exceptional improvements in food safety performance, but requires high level of commitment and full functional involvement of all stakeholders, particularly the industry.
I wish and I am sure that this seminar will provide a good platform for mutual sharing of views to meet and resolve the challenges in ensuring and implementing Food Safety and Standardization. I wish the organizers and participants all the best in this endeavor and hope that this initiative will contribute to the ultimate objective of ensuring the food safety for our citizens. With these words, I, formally inaugurate the seminar.
