This is of great
significance particularly now given that most of the world is still reeling
from the devastating effects of the pandemic. Vulnerable sections of the
population have gone deeper into poverty. Ensuring safe food now to
all is a challenge that needs to be addressed with a sense of urgency.
Food borne illnesses have increased around the world and the fear
and awareness on the need for safe food has increased. Let’s take the
example of the spice industry and see what is being done to ensure safe food in
the Indian context.
Ensuring food safety- The role of government:
The enactment of
the
fssai act of 2011 has been a step in the right
direction and has made every trader and processor of spice in the country small
and large accountable by making the fssai license mandatory.
The fssai has laid out
specifications for all spice and spice products. Test methods are in place to
prevent adulteration with synthetic colours and fillers.
Grow it safe:
Farmers have
been kept out of the purview of the fssai act. However rapidly increasing
awareness among consumers and also the role of industry in establishing and
working with farmers in establishing
good agriculture practices has had a
positive impact in growing safe food
Startups such as Bigbasket, Waycool, Ninjakrt have made a positive impact on
the agricultural landscape of the country. The use of technology in agriculture
has had a major impact with companies like Cropin technologies helping to
establish and monitor crops for safety, input usage and traceability which are
important for food safety.
The spice business has come a long way in producing safe spices.
India today produces spice products that meet the stringent foods safety
standards of the
USA,
Europe and Japan. All of this began even before the fssai
legislation came into effect. India has been exporting spices for 100’s of
years and the emphasis from mere quality to food safety began from the early
1990’s with the
Spices Board of India and the All India Spice Exporters Forum
played an important role along with the International spice processing
companies in sharing best practices. Spice processing companies are today
are certified for food safety standards such as
HACCP,
BRC and
FSSC 22000.
Food safety is everyone’s responsibility and consumers also have an
important role to play in ensuring food safety at home and in places where they
consume food. Proper storage is important to prevent spoilage or bacterial
contamination of food particularly meat, dairy and vegetables in refrigerators,
cooking food properly to kill possible microorganisms, washing food properly
are simple aspects that will go a long way in ensuring food safety at home.
Spice need to also be stored properly to prevent infestation spoilage at at
home.
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