I. New Integrated Draft Food Bill

The Union ministry of food processing has put on its website a draft food safety and standards bill, 2005. The ministry plans to repeal a number of critical legislations - including the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (PFA) and the Infant Milk Substitute, Feeding Bottles and Infant Food Act - to enact what it calls a more comprehensive legislation. The question now is to understand if the bill is really a move ahead and will it strengthen the measures to protect public health and consumer safety, or is it - the bill's genesis has been the pressure from the industry to "streamline procedures" - going to roll back on these critical issues?

CSE is working to study this bill and its provisions carefully and by the next alert, we should be in a position to give you a more detailed critique.

Appeared in Media Alert 2, January 24, 2005

II. The big business of sweeteners

Artificial sweeteners are becoming a big business in India. What will be the health impact of this business is something regulators are clueless about. For instance, the Coca-Cola Company and Nutra Sweet Company have applied to the Union ministry of health and family welfare for approval for a new chemical sweetener, Neotame. The companies say this sweetener is sweeter than aspartame, the artificial sweetener originally invented by Monsanto. Many food processing companies want permission to use these sweeteners in their products -- ranging from sweets to ice-creams. Use of these sweeteners is already permitted in soft drinks. The question is on what basis will the government allow the use of these sweeteners and how will it regulate these based on the acceptable daily intake (ADI). Across the world, regulators determine what is the safe level for these sweeteners and then regulate their use. This is because there are growing health concerns because of these sweeteners. What will we do?

On the other hand, Stevia rebaudiana -- a herb which is used across South America as an alternative to artificial sweeteners like aspartame -- is being denied use in the US, Europe, Canada and Australia. The argument is that its safety has not been conclusively proven. Strangely enough, India also does not allow the use of this natural sweetener. What are the politics behind this not-so-sweet business?

Some key resourcepersons are:

a. Dr Y K Gupta, director, Industrial Toxicology Research Centre, Lucknow,
Ph: 0522-2621856, 2228227, 2213357 (ITRC is supposed to assess the safety of artificial sweeteners)

b. A S Sasi Kumar, director (South Asia), The NutraSweet Company, Mumbai,
Ph: 022-28247273 (the biggest manufacturer of artificial sweeteners in India)

c. Dr S R Gupta, deputy director general (PFA), ministry of health and family welfare,
Ph: 011-23014647, 23018432, 23017429, 23018068

Appeared in Media Alert 3, February 14, 2005