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Risk mitigation in food chain enormous challenge, says MoFPI’s Hussain
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Tuesday, 18 March, 2014, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Ashwani Maindola, New Delhi
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fiogf49gjkf0d The mitigation of risks in the food chain is an enormous challenge. This was stated by Siraj Hussain, secretary, ministry of food processing industries (MoFPI) at a day-long seminar titled ‘Food Safety Risk Mitigation in the Food Chain’, which took place during Aahar (which concluded at New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan recently) and was co-organised by the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)-Food and Agriculture Centre of Excellence (FACE).
The level of awareness about food safety and the risks attached to it are not very high, and that is why experts say that the items being exported are of a higher quality, and those that do not meet the quality standards are accepted in India. Moreover, as far as the manner in which food is managed in India, there hasn’t been a drastic change on the ground. The laws are in place, and it is now upto civil society and educational institutions to create awareness, so consumers demand a higher level of hygiene.
However, implementing the regulations is a challenge. Hussain warned that it could be dangerous if the task of risk mitigation were not taken seriously across the country. The need for awareness campaigns is taking precedence in the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI) working culture. It is imperative that the ministry and the country’s apex food regulator jointly take charge to ensure that the risks in the food chain are mitigated.
The secretary urged the laboratories being assisted by the former to be accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), and added that the ministry was in talks with the states so that their labs could obtain NABL accreditation and the industry could be informed about these facilities.
Hussain said that institutions like NIFTEM had an important role to play in creating awareness about the challenges of food safety. However, he stated that while the majority of the industry had no problem adhering to the stringent regulations laid down by FSSAI, there was, ironically, a section of the organised segment of the industry which did, and this included a number of reputed players in the industry.
“The transportation of food is another challenge. FSSAI has laid down regulations for the same. But on one hand, there are some companies which are extremely cautious in carrying food from one place to the other, and on the other, there is a need to change the way large-scale transportation of food takes place in India. Every day, a number of trains carry cereals, fruit and vegetables to various parts of the country. However, the same trains carry coal,” he added.
For the Indian food industry to excel and transform into a global brand, quality, innovation and food safety are imperative. The food chain thus needs to focus on food safety risk mitigation and build competence in each organisation for effective implementation.
The concept note released at the event said, “With this perspective, food safety hazards have been categorised either as micro-biological, chemical or physical agents in food with the potential to cause an adverse health effect. The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 22000 definition also categorises allergens as food hazards.”
Food safety risks
Micro-biological hazards
The twelve most common infectious diseases – preventable by effective hand-washing and personal hygiene are Shigellosis, Hepatitis A, E coli 0157:17, Salmonellosis, Campylobacteriosis, common cold, influenza, giardiasis, impetigo, Fifth Disease, conjunctivitis and pinworms.
If the micro-organisms are on our hands, they can enter our bodies through food and water or by placing the contaminated hands on our mouths. Certain foods are at higher risk with respect to microbiological hazards. These include seafood, cheese, spices, meat and poultry. The food service and manufacturing industries thus provide refresher training and have foolproof systems in place to ensure hygienic practices from their food handlers.
Pathogen Product
Aeromonas Alfalfa sprouts, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, lettuce, pepper, spinach
Bacillus cereus Alfalfa sprouts, cress sprouts, cucumbers, mustard sprouts, soybean sprouts
Campylobacter jejuni Green onions, lettuce, mushroom, potato, parsley, pepper, spinach
Clostridium botulinum Cabbage, mushrooms, pepper
E coli 0157: H7 Alfalfa sprouts, apple juice, cabbage, celery, cilantro, coriander, cress sprouts, lettuce
Listeria monocytogenes Bean sprouts, cabbage, chicory, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, mushrooms, potatoes, radish, salad vegetables, tomatoes
Salmonella Alfalfa sprouts, artichokes, beet leaves, celery, cabbage, cantaloupe, chilli, cilantro, eggplant, endive, fennel, green onions, lettuce, moong bean sprouts, mustard cress, orange juice, parsley, pepper, salad greens, spinach, strawberries, tomatoes, watermelon
Shigella Celery, cantaloupe, lettuce, parsley, scallions
Staphylococcus Alfalfa sprouts, carrots, lettuce, onion sprouts, parsley, radish
Vibrio cholerae Cabbage, coconut milk, lettuce
Physical hazards
Potential physical hazards include glass, slime, scum, bone, plastics, stones, rocks, capsules, pits, shells, wood, paper, hair and other extraneous matter. The food service industry, which includes hotels, restaurants, catering services and commodity products like tea, coffee, cereals and pulses are highly affected by these physical hazards, impacting consumer safety. The industry thus invests heavily on preventive counter-measures such as metal detectors, separation by density, personal precautions, filters or sieves, cameras and photo-sensors.
To design a food safety system, it is important to identify the sources of all potential physical, chemical, biological and allergens, and incorporate counter-measures for each in line with the process flow.
Chemical hazards
The risk does not end with micro-biological and physical hazards. Codex and country-specific limits exist for heavy metals such as lead, copper, arsenic, tin, zinc, cadmium, mercury, aluminium, antimony, boron, fluorine, silver and iron, as well as for chemical residues arising from pesticide, antibiotic and other residues. The approved list of food colours, additives and flavours and fragrances are also specified in the country-specific and Codex regulations.
Chemical hazards in the food chain greatly impact agricultural produce. They could arise from vehicle emission, agricultural practices, landfills, industrial emissions, crops, livestock, seafood, processing, storage, distribution, retail, cooking, and from the packaging and serving material. Mycotoxins, the most feared chemical hazards, affect the organs of the body based on their toxicity levels and one’s exposure to them.
Allergens and their management
Allergens are substances (usually proteins) which are capable of inducing an allergic reaction. Food allergens are typically naturally-occurring proteins in foods, or derivatives of them, that cause abnormal immune responses.
Cereals, crustaceans, eggs and egg products, fish and fish products, peanuts, soybean, milk and milk products, tree nuts and nut products and sulphite in concentrations of 10mg/kg or more, and products of these are some of the listed allergens.
These proteins may be natural ingredients of the food products or may become part of these foods through unintended exposure. This may result from the contamination of raw materials, accidental misformulation, changes to product scheduling, rework, insufficient or ineffective cleaning/sanitation procedures or in-process contamination.
So management practices must be adopted by industry along its food supply chain to ensure that the risks arising out of allergenic food products due to their unintentional presence or deliberate addition as an ingredient is mitigated when the food reaches the consumer’s plate.
And these practices should involve, raw material sourcing, storage and communication to suppliers, transportation and storage of allergenic food products, product scheduling, manufacturing and usage, manufacturing like cleaning procedures, control of rework, equipment and premises design, post-manufacturing controls, employee training and supervision, labelling and communication to consumers.
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