US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) officials are in India to sensitise and train ready-to-eat (RTE) food exporters about the importance of following stringent food safety norms. A training workshop of RTE exporters organized by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) concluded on Tuesday which was aimed at creating awareness about food safety issues amongst exporters.
According to a report in The Financial Express, the workshop was organised following a report by a team of USFDA officials, which visited the country in February 2009. The team after conducting inspection in 9 units selected randomly found that many of the products did not conform to the strict USFDA norms. "FDA officials then informed us that the food products in retort pouches by some processors are not properly sterilized and possibilities of contamination is high," Apeda chairman Asit Tripathy said. These units are based in cities including Bangalore, Delhi, Bumbai, Pune, Chennai, Nashik etc.
Out of the total exports of Rs 400 crore of processed foods to the US during 2008-09, India had earned about Rs 100 crore from the RTE products such as dehydrated onion, mango pulp, dal makhni, mutter paneer and mixed vegetables. Steam retorts are required to have a method of delivering a uniform mixture of steam and air inside the packet, according to an expert. He said conforming to US standards would minimise rejections at ports.
To improve the safety of imported products used by the consumer in the US, the FDA has started assessment visits to conduct compliant inspections of specific processing plants who export to the US.
The Apeda chairman said that by increasing the quality level, the processed food products export could be increased to countries like Japan and Germany too.
Source : fnbnews.com