The Hindu Business Line : `Safety norms in processed foods must'

EVERY stage in the food chain needs to be standardised, and with the rapid expansion in processed foods trade globally, assurance of a certain safety standard is a minimum requirement for future trade with developed countries.

Mr Sailen Sarkar, Minister for Food Processing Industries & Horticulture Development, West Bengal, said here on Thursday that awareness and knowledge amongst those in the foods business as well as consumers to the twin issues of food quality and safety has been alarmingly low.

Speaking at a two-day workshop on `Processed food industry: Global trends and emerging concepts of quality management', organised by the Eastern Regional Council of FICCI, in collaboration with the Department of Food Processing Industries & Horticulture, West Bengal, the Minister said value addition in agriculture has mainly been confined to processing of the fresh products.

Citing the case of Bengal, which has performed well in agriculture, he said: "we have a number of small industries engaged in products such as jams, pickles and squash which are well aware of hygiene and cleanliness requirements, but not conversant with the latest concepts on quality and safety standards".

Citing a recent survey by a well-known certification company, he said some 36 per cent of food business in the country do not have a safety management in place and 52 per cent have not heard of HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points)

What was even more astonishing, according to Mr Sarkar, was that only 38 per cent of those in the foods business believed that they should be responsible for developing food safety management systems. "In the present WTO regime, it is imperative that for those in business to have a food safety system in place."

The safety system, said the Minister, should cover the entire food chain with special attention to food quality, food-related diseases, impact of processing techniques on health, traceability and environment-friendly production methods.

Dr A.N. Basu, Vice-Chancellor, Jadavpur University, called for closer co-operation between the government organisations, industry and the academia to evolve a common thinking platform.

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