Oil & Food Journal September 2014

India’s Only Monthly for Agro, Processed Food & Allied Sectors Issue Date of Publication - 25th of Every Month Date of Posting - 28th of Every Month

Vol 09 Issue 11 September 2014 Rs. 100/-

RNI NO. MAHENG/2005/15987

India’s First E Magazine - Log on to www.agronfoodprocessing.com

POSTAL No. THW/50/2014-2016

Creating Demand for Sustainable Palm Oil through Tariff Policies in India & Indonesia Pg 09

Five steps to optimum product inspection for bakers Pg 16 The Global Banana Trade Pg 28

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Contents

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Modernization of agri infrastructure in UP by Dutch

Russia’s ban on food imports creates fraud on both sides of border

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Cargill sues Syngenta over shipments of GMO corn

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Govt to cut down food losses from 18 % to much lower – Badal

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Enhancement of budgetary allocation for food processing suggested

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Union minister visits Sri City in Satyavedu

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New System Plast NG Evo introduces FDA-friendly dry conveying option for food packaging

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Indian Ice Cream Congress & Expo 2014 held in Mumbai with unprecedented success

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PM to launch mega PPP food park in Karnataka and 17 more on the way

Dunkin donuts to add 500 restaurant in India amid expansion plans Food processing Ministry to sustain Skill training

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Rapid changes in consumer shopping behaviors speed up demands for smarter packaging solutions

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Scrutiny of High-import farm produce

Russia’s ban on food imports creates fraud on both sides of border

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USDA approves five-fold increase in tomato lycopene limit in RTE meat

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Vol. 09, Issue 11, September, 2014

Editorial

id-day meals in India’s government schools were envisaged to stop hunger from keeping children away from schools and to improve enrolment. Children do come to school and meals get served, but quite often, terrible accidents happen.

Sometimes hygiene plays the devil, sometimes adulteration. In fact recently on that is on the 6th of this month a Lizard was found in the mid day meal at a government school in Sitamarhi district of Bihar.

A few days ago too, a lizard was found in the mid-day meal served in a school in Begusarai district. Six children had fallen ill after eating the meal. In the past, lizards, rats, frogs and insects have been found in meals served to students in the state.

Last year, 23 students died after eating a poisonous meal at a primary school at Dharmasati Gandaman village in Saran district.

In two cases of mid-day meal poisoning, the National Human Rights Commission's (NHRC) persistence resulted in a payment of a sum of Rs.1.60 lakh as monetary relief to three victims by the Government of Madhya Pradesh and ten by the Government of NCT of Delhi.

The amount included Rs.60 thousand for three girl students of a Secondary School in Village Mathdevai of District Siwani, Madhya Pradesh and Rs.1 lakh to ten girl students of Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Sector-20, Rohini, Delhi.

Why are children dying of the food that is meant to nourish them and draw them to schools?

Food is meant for life not for dying but unfortunately political negligence, unauthentic contractors and unhygienic quality of food end up targeting innocent school children coming from a lower background.

So what was so unprecedented, that the Indian Union Minister for food processing said? I really wonder, her suggestion was quite intellectual and ethical.

HRD ministry has strongly objected to news of food processing minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal asking PepsiCo bossIndra Nooyi to develop nutritious processed foods for the Rs 13, 215-crore Mid-Day Meal scheme. Badal's intervention in MDM, is clearly outside her ministry's purview and has been brought to the notice of the PMO. As a matter of fact, i think its a great idea coming from Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Why not give a thought to deliver nutritious packed and processed foods to the kids in govt schools. Rather than criticizing, it more important to analyze the type of food quality provided in the schools and also deep need for research and development on this to provide healthy, hygeinic, processed foods fortified with vital nutrients to these kids.

Its a great idea from Harsimrat aur badal, By evening food processing ministry issued a clarification that Badal did not support any proposal for supply of processed food under MDM. However, Badal's ministry admitted that she pointed out the opportunity to companies for producing nutritious and healthy food for school going children of working mothers.

But it didn't help to assuage the HRD ministry. Officials there expressed outrage and said Kaur should have refrained from making a policy statement. "There is a packaged food lobby that has been at work for long. Minister should have known that MDM is closely monitored by Supreme Court. It sends out the wrong signal," one official said.

Reiterating its stand on MDM, highly placed HRD source said, "We are totally opposed to processed food for MDM. Supreme Court orders are very clear on this. HRD ministry would also like to make it clear that it was not involved in any discussion with PepsiCo even though MDM comes under us." MDM is availed by 10.8 crore children in 11.58 lakh schools across country. A concerted attempt to push packaged food in place of cooked food was made between 2004-09 when Arjun Singh was HRD minister. However, it did not meet with any success.

Badal was not alone in being embroiled in an MDM controversy on Tuesday. A senior Bihar government official created a stir during the conference of school education secretaries in the Capital. He said instead of helping education, MDM has become the biggest roadblock for education and hence can be done away with. Official did not find enough supporters in the meeting but a secretary from southern state said, "There is a wide difference in the way MDM is being implemented in various states. While southern states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are doing very well, states like Bihar is grappling with logistics for a long period. Only last year one of the worst MDM tragedies took place in Bihar. His anger is not misplaced but MDM cannot be scrapped."

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Creating Demand for Sustainable Palm Oil through Tariff Policies in India & Indonesia Nachiketa Das

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alm oil has emerged as the main source of vegetable oil globally, constituting around 33% of total global vegetable oil production in 20112012 (Figure 1).

In conjunction with historically low prices, relative shelf stability, and reported nutritional benefits (Bethe, 2010), this increase in market share can be attributed to the following natural characteristics of oil palm: •Oil palms, with an average yield of 3.85 tonnes/ha, generate the highest yield amongst competing oil crops.

•Oil palms have an economic lifecycle of 20-25 years, and are a relatively easy

to cultivate crop that bears fruit all year round.

Currently global edible oil consumption is increasing at a CAGR of ~4.9% (i.e., from 121.5 million MT in 2007 to 155.6 million MT in 2012); and as populations and incomes (particularly in India and China) increase, the demand for palm oil is only set to grow in the foreseeable future.

India’s Palm Oil Demand India is the world’s largest importer of palm oil, having imported over 8,342,285 MT of palm oil (i.e., 19.90% of global imports) in 2013. The total demand of

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edible vegetable oils in India was 17.5 million MT in 2012-13, which is further estimated to rise at a rate of ~3-4% per annum to 26.78 million MT by 2025 (Figure 2).

India remains heavily dependent on imports of edible oil to meet domestic demand.

At present around 48% of current domestic demand is being met with imports (Table 1).

Also, palm oil constitutes around 80% of imported oil in India, with soft oils (i.e., soybean oil, sunflower oil and other oils) constituting the remaining 20% (Table 2).

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Edible oil consumption in India is traditionally region specific (see Figure 3), with East, West, North and South Zones accounting for 25.8%, 31.2%, 22.8% and 20.2% of total edible oils consumption respectively, in India. A large part of the oil purchased in India is for household consumption or institutional uses (food processors, restaurants and hotels). Oil in India is sold primarily (89%) in loose form and a small percentage (11%) in the branded and packaged form (WWF, 2013). In association with the fact that Indian consumers are highly pricesensitive; the pricing in international markets and governmental policies towards palm oil imports have played a major role in driving demand in India.

Palm oil has dominated Indian imports since the mid-1990s – given its logistical advantages, contractual flexibility and consumer acceptance as the lowest priced oil – growing at a CAGR of ~17.09% to reach ~7.4 million MT in 2011-2012 (WWF, 2013). Palm oil is currently the single largest consumed vegetable oil in India.

The Indonesian Scenario This growth in demand for palm oil is leading to an increase in its production, primarily in Indonesia – currently the top global producer of palm oil, having produced over 28,500,000 MT of palm oil (i.e., 51.10% of global production) in 2012. Palm cultivation and production has emerged as a significant contributor to Indonesia’s economic growth,

with the sector accounting for 7% of national GDP and employing over 3.7 million people. With ~45% of production coming from smallholders, palm plantations have grown exponentially in the last four decades in Indonesia. In 2011, oil palm plantations covered 7.8 million ha, out of which 6.1 million ha were productive plantations under harvest (See Figure 4).

Palm oil cultivation is a primary driver behind large-scale deforestation, and as per WWF’s estimates expansion of palm oil plantations is likely to cause 4 million ha of forest loss globally by 2020 (WWF-India, 2013). The impacts of such large-scale deforestation include adverse impacts on people’s health and disruption of local livelihoods.

At the global level, the impacts of forest loss are even more dramatic, including the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere that contribute to global warming.

Moving towards sustainable palm oil Established in 2004, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has emerged as the leading mainstream standard for palm oil. It brings together palm oil growers, oil processors, manufacturers, retailers, NGOs and palm oil investors, who have one goal in common—promoting the growth and use of sustainable oil palm.

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Palm Oil

RSPO has set standards for responsible oil palm plantations, coupled with an independent system for auditing plantations, mills and the supply chain right up to the end users. At the heart of the RSPO’s standards is the requirement not to clear primary forest or any land that is important for wildlife and communities.

There are also standards that address soil erosion, pollution, health and safety, labour conditions and others that make up the definition of sustainable palm oil (WWF 2013).

Improving production standards and increasing production efficiency on existing land via adoption of RSPO principles can reduce the need to convert forests; thereby reducing illegality and also increasing the supply of legal, sustainable certified palm. Moreover,

the benefits accruing from compliance with RSPO principles is significantly greater than the costs of compliance to sustainable production practices (Table 3), especially due to the massive scale

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of large oil palm operations, wherein even small gains due to improved documentation, reduced input use, etc., multiply into larger savings across the bottom line (WWF, 2012).

Issues and Challenges for Sustainable Palm Oil Currently, approximately, half of the ‘green’ (certified sustainable) palm produced remains unsold because of its slightly higher cost to buyers. Moreover existing premiums are not sufficient to meet the costs of transition for producers. Hence, the fundamental rules of the game need to be changed to create systemic demand for

any such measure. This is necessary in order to determine how such a policy can be in the interests of both parties (the exporting and importing nations), and how to distribute the role and costs of implementation of such a policy amongst both parties.

Tariffs Regimes for Palm Oil in India and Indonesia In India, historically there have been frequent adjustments in tariffs to protect domestic oilseed producers and processors and to

‘green growth’ palm across the sector. This needs to provide a stimulus for equitable, economic, green growth and also offers a major climate mitigation opportunity.

Demand side solutions are required to match the supply side measures (such as changes in production practices, supply chain, etc.) in order for sustainable palm oil to be economically viable.

Possible solutions include establishing a differentiated tariff policy in favor of green-growth / sustainable palm oil in major markets. In order to estimate the viability of such alternative measures, it is first necessary to undertake a detailed cost-benefit analysis of the impacts of

smooth the effect of fluctuating world prices on domestic consumers.

Currently, as per the WTO norms, India has fixed its bound rate of tariffs at a high level of 300% for most oils, with the exception of soybean oil for which the bound rate was fixed at 45%. Also, from 1999, a duty difference was established between crude and

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refined imported oils – targeted at encouraging value addition and prompt modernisation and capacity addition in the domestic processing/refining industry. This duty difference was maintained at 27.4% until April 2003, when it was further reduced to 7.5% duty on refined palm oil imports in order to control domestic oil prices in the aftermath of a decline in domestic production of oilseeds in the country.

In January 2013, the Indian government reduced the duty difference between crude palm oil (CPO) and refined bleached and deodorised (RBD) palm oil to just 5% (from the previous 7.5%), by setting a 2.5% duty on all crude edible oils (an additional 3% education cess is levied on the tariff for both CPO and RBD). This hike in tariff duty for CPO was aimed at protecting local farmers and domestic producers from a recent decline in international prices (FAO, 2013). This reduction in duty-differential between CPO and RBD has resulted in a stimulus for trade in favour of RBD (see Table 4).

The same is reflected in the ratio of RBD and CPO imports of India over the past two years (Table 5).

Indian industry bodies such as the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEAI) have asked for RBD tariffs and duty differential to be raised to 13.5%.

According to SEAI, post-1999, the industry has invested over INR 10,000

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crore (~US$ 1.6 billion) in setting up a refining capacity of 15 million tonnes.

Due to the lower cost of imported refined palm oil, this capacity is being underutilised; threatening the jobs of over 500,000 people employed in the sector.

In 2006, a government committee led by Dr. Ashok Lahiri, former chief economic advisor to the Government of India, recommended that the duty differential between crude and refined edible oils be maintained at 7.5%.

Given that the total demand for edible oils in India is estimated to rise at a rate of 3-4% per annum to touch 26.78 million MT by 2025; there is evidently a strong demand for palm oil in Indian markets for the foreseeable future. Indian policy so far has been to protect its domestic oil seed producers from cheaper international exporters (price declines caused as a result of increasing stocks) and protect against inflation by setting import tariffs of 2.5% on CPO. Encouraged by the recent fall in international prices and increase in domestic agricultural production, as of January 2014, India increased import duties on refined edible oils, including palm oil, to 10% (from 7.5%) to protect local oilseed growers and refiners against cheaper supplies from major exporters.

The government of Indonesia has issued several regulations regarding palm oil export.

Before 1978, palm oil was an export-oriented commodity.

Production and export volume increased rapidly, and export volume reached 72– 99% of the total production (Djauhari and Pasaribu, 1996). In June 1991, the government reversed this policy for a domestic quota of palm oil in order to increase its export and attract more investments to the palm oil sector (Pahan, 2008) and instead issued a new policy by imposing export taxes on palm oil products in September 1994.

Starting 2011, the Indonesian government

introduced a differential export tax on refined and crude palm oil to guarantee the domestic availability of CPO for producing affordable cooking oil and encourage the development of higher valued added activity in the Indonesian economy.

The size of the export tariff on CPO is determined based upon average prices in

Kuala Lumpur, Rotterdam and Jakarta on a monthly basis. As per Finance Ministry Decree No.67 /2010, if the price of CPO reaches between US$ 1,200 to US$ 1,299 per MET, the export tariff is set at 20% and a price above this range results in the levying of the maximum rate of 25%.

With the present price hovering around

US$ 800 per MET (as of Q1 2014), the tariff heading into 2014 is to remain unchanged from its end of year rate of 12%.

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Palm Oil To further accelerate downstream development, the government simultaneously slashed the export tax levied on refined palm oil products to 5%.

It is important to note that the cost for Indian importers to purchase CPO from Malaysia is at present a better option given that Malaysia imposes a mere 5% export tariff on CPO exports. This stems from the fact that an increase in Indonesia’s effective export tax relative to Malaysia’s will decrease Indonesia’s CPO export assuming Malaysia’s CPO export tax remains constant (Rifin Amzul, 2010).

As a consequence of Malaysia’s constant and lower export tax, the landing cost borne by the importer in India is US$ 848.71 per MT (after paying all Indian and Malaysian taxes) and the market cost post-refining and by-product realisation is US$ 964.71 per MT (Table 6) – making Malaysian CPO economically lucrative to Indian buyers.

At the same time, given Indonesia and Malaysia’s bilateral investment (several Malaysian companies have invested significantly in Indonesia’s palm oil sector in the form of opening palm oil estates and refineries) and trade dynamics (Indonesiabased Malaysian companies export CPO to Malaysia in order to process refined palm oil), an increase in Indonesia’s refined palm oil export will cause a decrease in CPO export, including exports to Malaysia – leading to Malaysian CPO marked for exports being diverted to domestic refining to replace shortfalls in CPO import from Indonesia (Rifin Amzul, 2010).

Supporting Differentiated Tariffs for Sustainable Palm Oil in India and Indonesia Sustainable palm oil requires both demand-side and supplyside measures to make it economically viable in current markets.

Currently around 8.2 million tons of palm oil is certified RSPO (i.e. 15% of palm oil globally) – 46.8% of which comes from

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Indonesia. Awareness for sustainable palm oil is limited in India, but starting to grow.

As of January 2014, there are 28 RSPO member companies, organisations and traders in India. Also, there is a visible lack of premium-paying customers for sustainable products as in Europe and other developed countries – making it necessary for regulations binding adherence to sustainable palm oil (similar to the EU regulation binding 10% of all bio-fuel to be certified sustainable) in order to generate demand.

Given the price-sensitivity and low paying-capacity of a large section of Indian consumers, a more prudent demand-generating mechanism would be that of restructuring the prevailing tariff regimes in India and Indonesia to favour sustainable palm oil to make it competitive with BAU palm oil, rather than force limited-paying capacity consumers to pay unattractive higher premiums.

To illustrate this point, we estimate the impact of the imposition of differential duties on Crude Palm Oil (CPO) and Refined Bleached and Deodorised (RBD) Palm Oil in India and Indonesia based on two separate scenarios of palm oil tariffs (Table 7).

The aim of differential tariffs is to ensure that landing rates and net cost per MT of sustainable palm oil are equal to that of BAU palm oil – thereby making it ideal for traders and refineries to switch to sustainable palm oil. For simplicity, the following assumptions were made in our exercise: •According to the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEAI) current premium price for Indian importers are US$ 20-25 per MT of Indonesian sustainable palm oil. For our analysis we assume US$ 25 premium to obtain the upper range of prices.

•As per industry estimates, domestic refining costs for refining CPO are approximately US$ 274.9 and the byproduct realisation from refining process

is worth approximately US$ 158.9 (India Ratings and Research, 2013).

•Indonesia imposes a 12% duty on CPO exports and 5% duty on RBD exports as per current tariff policy. Similarly, India imposes a 2.5% (+3% education cess) import tariff on CPO and 10% (+3% education cess) import tariff on RBD imports.

•It is assumed, given that prices of sustainable palm oil are equal to prices of unsustainable palm oil, Indian importers would prefer to import sustainable palm oil.

The current ratio of crude and refined palm oils in India’s total palm oil imports is 71% of CPO and 29% of RBD. In order to maintain parity, we assume that the same ratio will be maintained across all scenarios (i.e., for any quantity of sustainable palm oil being imported by India, the ratio between sustainable CPO and sustainable RBD will be maintained as 71% of CPO and 29% of RBD).

•Any loss in revenues (as compared to current BAU status) as a result of reduction in tariffs for Indonesia and India under Scenarios 1 and 2 will be funded via international funds for the development of a green economy (for example the Norway-Indonesia Forestry

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Palm Oil Fund of US$ 1 billion).

The cost (as a result of revenues foregone) of such differential tariff policy in favour of sustainable palm oil, under different scenarios for India and Indonesia are listed in Table 8. The different scenarios considered in our analysis include: •BAU for unsustainable and sustainable palm oil currently involves a differential tariff policy for crude (CPO) and refined (RBD) palm oil, but a singular tariff for unsustainable and sustainable palm oil.

•Scenario 1constitutes of a case wherein Indonesia subsidises sustainable palm oil exports by reducing its export tariff to allow for market prices of sustainable palm oil to equate with the market prices of unsustainable palm oil under BAU. •Scenario 2 constitutes of a case wherein both Indonesia and India make simultaneous reductions in their respective tariff policies (Indonesia being more pro-active and making more significant reductions to encourage demand for its product in Indian markets) to allow for market prices of sustainable palm oil to equate with the market prices of unsustainable palm oil under BAU. Under BAU, the potential revenues from current non-sustainability differentiating tariffs regimes in India and Indonesia are US$ 9.57 million for Indonesia and US$ 4.97 million for India for trade of sustainable palm oil (constituting of 2.725 million MT of CPO & 1.113 million MT of RBD). We say ‘potential’ revenue, since given the price-sensitive nature of Indian consumers there exists at present no market for sustainable palm oil in India – hence in reality the revenues earned are ‘zero’.

If a policy of differentiation were to be initiated to favour sustainable palm oil via establishing lower tariffs for sustainable palm oil to incentivise its demand; both the exporting and importing partners’ tariff revenues would be affected (since

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now sustainable palm oil draws less duty as compared to earlier). These losses in revenues are illustrated under Scenarios 1

and 2 in Table 8.

Under Scenario 1, losses to Indonesian exchequer from foregone revenues due to a reducing of export tariffs for sustainable palm oil would be around US$ 97.27 million. Similarly, for the Indian exchequer to sustain a lower import tariff on sustainable palm oil the foregone benefits would be US$ 0.08 million.

The total cost of creating demand for ~3.8 million MT of sustainable palm oil under Scenario 1 would be US$ 97.35 million. Under Scenario 2, losses to Indonesian exchequer from foregone revenues due to a reducing of export tariffs for sustainable palm oil would be around US$ 74.46 million. Similarly, for the Indian exchequer to sustain a lower import tariff on sustainable palm oil the foregone benefits would be US$ 21.30 million.

The total cost of creating demand for ~3.8 million MT of sustainable palm oil under Scenario 2 would be US$ 95.76 million.

Given that the actual benefits from natural capital savings as a result of implementation of RSPO principles impact Indonesia directly via a reduction in deforestation, higher productivity yields, better community management, and increased ecosystems services – the case for positive action by the Indonesian government is stronger.

The direct and indirect benefits of sustainable production practices in the Indonesian palm oil sector are significant value addition to the Indonesian economy – from which India, as a mere consumer of palm oil, is bereft. This in conjunction with the fact that Indian consumers are highly price sensitive makes it highly unlikely that the Indian government can accommodate a differential tariffs policy in favor of sustainable palm oil (such as in Scenario 2). Also, given that under Scenario 1 most of the costs of tariff reduction are associated with Indonesian action, it facilitates any international funding effort towards such initiative by simplifying the process.

Hence the onus of creating demand for its product falls on Indonesia, which benefits the most from it – making Scenario 1 the most feasible.

If such a scenario were indeed implemented, it can be safely assumed that given a national consumption of over ~8 million MT of palm oil, India can very well absorb the current stocks of sustainable palm oil (~3.8 Million MT in Indonesia out of a total of 25.8 million MT production). In fact, with supply of sustainable palm oil being around half of current market demand (~8 million MT), there would exist an excess demand that would still be required to be met by BAU palm oil in immediate future.

Conclusion & Recommendation The costs associated with such initiatives are not insignificant, but given potential benefits that such a policy can generate – by establishing a demand for sustainable palm oil in Indian markets – it is both economically and ecologically prudent.

Moreover, given the relationship between the palm oil industry and deforestation, any move towards establishing sustainable practices in the sector would have a direct impact on Indonesia’s forests and global climate change. Hence, there is a case for such policy instruments to be covered and funded by international funds marked

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Palm Oil for combating climate change and deforestation. One such significant fund, which can cover the costs of creating differential tariff regimes for sustainable palm oil in their entirety, is the NorwayIndonesia forest fund worth US$ 1 billion, signed in May 2010.

Given such dynamics in the international trade of palm oil, a differential tariff system supported by both countries can go a long way in creating demand in a price-sensitive market, such as India, by making sustainable palm oil price-competitive with BAU palm oil.

Also, by creating demand in the Indian market for sustainable palm oil, such policy incentivises domestic processors and manufactures in India to integrate sustainability into their business model, in order to remain competitive with their Indonesian counterparts. This becomes essential for inculcating sustainable practices in the palm oil industry in future, as demand and production of palm oil in India grows, and as Indian retailers and distributors become more organised and source directly from manufacturers, at the expense of upstream growers and processors, leading to value chain disintermediation (WWF, 2013).

India is an influential and significant new economy for sustainable palm across the world and by adopting strategic policies towards certified sustainable palm oil it has the potential to set a benchmark towards international sustainable endeavours. By adopting a policy making it mandatory for Indian industries and refineries to consume sustainable palm oil, India has the ability to change market dynamics internationally.

In the case of Indonesia, the natural, social and human capital benefits accruing from switching over to sustainable practices in palm oil roduction – when estimated – would be significantly larger than the monetary cost of financing subsidies to sustainable palm oil. It is our opinion that a sectoral analysis to evaluate the monetary benefits to both, the industry and the nation, from large-scale implementation of sustainable practices and its impacts on natural, human and social capital externalities, would present a clear case for sustainability in the palm oil industry.

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Five steps to optimum product inspection for bakers

T

he need to equip bakery processing lines with top-quality product inspection equipment is more pressing than ever before. Tightened regulatory standards and heightened consumer awareness require that bakery manu-

facturers take all measures necessary to protect both customers and their brand reputation.

In 2010 the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) reported 116 incidents of physical contamination, with 66% concerning ‘ex-

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trinsic material not related to the food itself’. Thirteen product recall notices were issued. Interestingly, in 2009 the number of incidents was 56, less than half the 2010 figure. More recently, in early 2011, Flowers Foods, a bakery company, had to

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recall its bread and muffins as they contained small pieces of metal.

These figures and the example above are the type of issues that provoke concern amongst bakery manufacturers. There are inevitable and serious consequences in the event of a product recall - the financial cost of sanctions, fines and damaged machines is often high, and can have immediate and long-term implications for company share price. Food safety scares can dent consumer confidence to such an extent that affected brands may find it very difficult to recover.

In order to keep your brand protected, certain steps must be taken. Below is a five-point checklist of your route to the highest-quality product inspection.

1) Understand the regulations The first step in satisfying food regulations and standards is to acquire a full understanding of what they entail, and which particular ones apply to your organisation. It’s important to select equipment and suppliers that can ensure compliance and have knowledge of global quality standards, regional differences and industry variations.

Checkweighers, metal-detectors, x-ray equipment and vision inspection systems must satisfy legislation implemented by state regulators – bodies such as the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration, Germany’s Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, or non-federal US state regulators – in their ability to guarantee process and product security. In many cases, it is also important to choose technology and equipment that adheres to the demands of the industry, such as standards encompassed by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), which includes British Retail Consortium (BRC), International Food Standard (IFS) and FSSC 22000 schemes.

The requirements heaped upon manufacturers do not end with food safety legislation, global certification schemes and process-specific standards. For ex-

ample checkweighers play a pivotal role in meeting trading standards like Weights and Measures, and innovative, centralised product inspection device management helps to placate retailers who have their own, individual sets of standards, such as Tesco, Marks and Spencer and Walmart – especially in terms of due diligence.

2) Know your product Armed with an awareness of relevant regulations and standards, manufacturers must turn their focus to the nature of their product. What is the product density and thickness? How is it packaged Is the product individually wrapped or in bulk loose flow? Different combinations can affect the optimum inspection solution.

For complete safety, it is important to un-

derstand at what point, or points, in the production process your bakery product needs to be inspected and what contaminants you are looking for at each point.

Product or pack orientation has a similar bearing on the type of inspection needed, as well as positioning on the belt – for example, doughnuts may be randomly positioned on a conveyor belt in the production process. In this instance, x-ray technology is first able to locate a recognisable product, and then run an inspection routine. Market-leading product inspection solutions can be tailored to accurately inspect any product format, of any density, in any packaging.

Part of knowing your product is understanding the factors that could limit inspection sensitivity. This draws upon

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Bakery knowledge of product technology, potential contaminants and environmental factors. For instance, a bakery product packed in an environment with limited space may require a metal detector with a sensitive detection coil, plus the ability to be positioned in close proximity to metal structures and other equipment without interference and impaired performance. Features such as Mettler-Toledo Safeline’s Zero Metal Free Zone (ZMFZ) take this a step further, using its patented Internal Cancellation Field (ICF) technology to eliminate interference from nearby metal structures, even when fitted into tight spaces.

3) Increase risk awareness Good manufacturing practices, such as those outlined in a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) program, should be in place no matter where or what your company is manufacturing. A comprehensive manufacturer audit, which in the case of HACCP requires the following of seven key principles, involves the systematic identification of manufacturing risks, and the incorporation of means to mitigate the risk when identified or the implementation of corrective actions to manage them.

The seven key principles apply across the board, whether you produce fresh or frozen baking products.

HACCP analysis enables manufacturers to get a grasp on which contaminants are most likely to affect their product, be it metals, glass, bone or plastics, in addition to all product integrity risks on your line. These integrity risks, which require accurate product inspection to control, may include the risk of missing product, broken product, damaged packaging or inconsistent fill levels. Once the initial risk assessment is complete, bakery manufacturers are in a position to better understand which technologies are ideal for their particular risk control requirements.

4) Optimise productivity Whilst a product inspection system will at

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a minimum ensure quality and safety, additional features can be selected to facilitate increased productivity and minimise downtime. These twin goals can be attained by choosing efficient, easy-to-use and flexible equipment, specific to your requirements.

‘Condition Monitoring’ features in metal detectors are a proven method of improving line efficiency. By identifying potentially adverse trends early on and, crucially, providing advance warning to machine minders or maintenance operatives, these systems help to avert detection system failures and improve overall Original Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).

In market-leading inspection solutions, intuitive touch screens provide an easy and efficient system through which to control line parameters, speed up the setup process and provide further productivity boosts.

Easy integration with other surrounding pieces of equipment is also important for inspection machines – this allows installation time to be kept to a minimum which in-turn increases Up-Time.

Similarly, system options exist to provide flexibility for the inspection of multiple different products at a single machine setting (through the use of ‘change-free’ technology). Technologies can also be combined in a single unit for example, metal detector and checkweigher combinations or xray and checkweigher combinations.

Integrated data monitoring software programs, such as Mettler-Toledo’s centralised product management platform ProdX, enable real-time monitoring of multiple locations and greatly enhance OEE. Simple-to-understand online visualisation of the complete production line, and at-a-glance status of device health and effectiveness, ensures that interventions are planned rather than reactive.

Key for efficiency is inspection systems that can keep up with the speed of the line. Choose technologies that can accurately and reliably inspect products without slowing down throughput.

5) Rely on the experts The purchase of product inspection equipment best suited to your line needs can appear, on first sight, a daunting task.

Plus, with food safety regulations changing continually, there is an added pressure on manufacturers to stay up-to-date with the latest developments, and bring in the latest technologies to meet the new required standards.

In order to eliminate confusion, and select the most appropriate product inspection equipment, bakery manufacturers need a partner they can rely on. They should be able to call on an equipment provider with the worldwide expertise necessary to give close consultation on optimum systems, corrective actions, and the ability to provide the best product inspection equipment available to carry them out.

One-stop-shops and bespoke solutions are ideal for manufacturers with varying production demands, allowing for the best combination of metal detection, xray, checkweighers or vision inspection systems, whilst also offering the ability to easily ramp up or down as production demands change.

On the Path to Quality The choice of the ideal product inspection programme can be overwhelming as it depends on a number of factors, from product characteristics to regulations and standards. The five tips above can shed some light on this important decision to ensure quality products, productivity and compliance.

About the Author Neil Giles is the Marketing Communica-

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Bakery tions Manager for the Product Inspection Division of Mettler-Toledo, based in the UK. He currently specialises across all three main product inspection technologies, which are x-ray, metal detection and checkweighing. A member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, he has over 20 years experience of working in the food and pharmaceutical industries where he has extensive knowledge of equipment for the packaging, processing weighing and inspection sectors.

About Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection Mettler-Toledo Safeline is the world’s leading supplier of metal detection and xray inspection solutions for the food and pharmaceutical industries. Together with Garvens Checkweighing and CI-Vision Mettler-Toledo Safeline forms the Product Inspection division of Mettler-Toledo.

Mettler-Toledo develops, produces and sells precision instruments worldwide. The company is one of the largest suppliers of weighing systems in the world, whose high-quality products are used in laboratories as well as industrial and food retailing applications. Renowned producers of all conceivable everyday products rely on Mettler-Toledo’s weighing technology as an important aid to product development. These producers reap the benefits of the global company’s innovative products and global presence.

Mettler-Toledo’s corporate philosophy centers around quality and tailored solutions. The company forms a true partnership with its customers, working together to develop unique solutions, providing support during the selection of appropriate systems and offering a reliable service.

For general information on Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection, visit: http://www. mt.com/pi

By Neil Giles, Marketing Communications Manager for the Product Inspection Division of Mettler-Toledo

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Review

Mark Kahn sees India as a hothouse for agricultural innovation

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eet Mark Kahn, founding partner of an India-based agricultural and food technology fund – if you can catch him.

The Montreal-born, Texasraised co-founder of Omnivore Partners is usually on the road, checking out startups that might improve or modernize farm productivity, as long as they can do it in a sustainable way.

“We focus on six major investment themes,” says Mr. Kahn, 36. “They are: farm mechanization, sustainable inputs, information services, precision agriculture, supply chain technology and innovative food products.

“These are the areas where we see significant technology innovation, rapid market growth, and the potential to deliver superior financial returns for our fund investors.”

Mr. Kahn became interested in sustainable agriculture after studying at the University of Pennsylvania and then Harvard Business School. He fell in love with India, has learned some Hindi and started Omnivore in 2010 with co-founder Jinesh Shah.

“Jinesh and I believe that India is the global laboratory for smallholder agriculture,” he says. “No other country in the world combines a massive agriculture sector dominated by smallholder farmers with deep reservoirs of technology talent.”

India holds the second-largest amount of agricultural land in the world (after the United States), nearly 180 million square kilometres, mostly small holdings

that help feed a population of 1.2 billion people. It’s the world’s third-largest agricultural producer by value (behind China and the United States) and its agricultural

GDP has grown each year at 3 per cent between 1980 and 2012.

Yet a report last year by McKinsey & Co. notes that the sector has yet to realize its full potential. “The sector fulfills only 50 to 60 per cent of the potential yield for most crops. Private capital participation in processing, branding and marketing that drove the agriculture and food sector in several developing and middle-income countries is yet to take off in India.”

This is what Mr. Kahn and Omnivore seek to change. From his current base in Bangalore, India, he sees the country’s potential partly because, with more than one out of seven people on Earth, it’s also an emerging tech powerhouse.

Its strengths include IT software and hardware, auto engineering, farm machinery (tractors), food processing, pharmaceuticals and biotech, among other goods and services.

“We feel that India is uniquely positioned

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to develop agricultural innovations for smallholder farmers,” which can be applicable both for the subcontinent and in other parts of Asia as well as Africa.

“Skymet, our first investment back in 2011, now has the largest network of automatic weather stations in India and has become the infrastructure and services backbone supporting the growth of the agriculture insurance industry,” Mr. Kahn says.

Another investment, Arohan Foods, based in Assam, has become the leading pork processor in India, he says.

Though India has a large Muslim population and a vegetarian tradition that includes the country’s revered founding father Mahatma Gandhi, Mr. Kahn says pork production is nevertheless “an underserved segment with massive consumer demand.”

Omnivore has also invested in a company called Barrix, which provides pest management products to farmers that are alternatives to toxic pesticides.

Running a venture fund in an emerging market like India is “always risky,” Mr. Kahn says. “We spend a huge amount of time evaluating entrepreneurs and determining whether we think they have what it takes to build a successful business.”

That means more or less working constantly, starting at the crack of dawn.

“I tend to wake up at 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning to keep my crazy e-mail situation under control,” he says.

“I also have to review the WhatsApp [social media] discussions among my team

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and our portfolio companies that tend to carry on throughout the night. I try not to call Jinesh before 6:30 a.m., but we generally have our first chat of the day around then. By 7:30 a.m. I think it’s fair game to start calling the rest of my team.”

After some exercise and breakfast, “It’s meetings with startups, field visits, discussions with other venture capitalists and working with portfolio companies,

etc. I travel around 60 per cent of the time, but even when I’m not, I’m rarely at my desk for more than an hour or two each day. Fortunately, I can fall asleep almost instantly while flying.”

Despite the peripatetic lifestyle, “Venture capital is a fairly cerebral job,” he says.

“We spend a great deal of time thinking about technology trends and sectoral transformation. We’re always reading,

Review learning about new technologies, going to conferences. The action part of our job is finding startups to invest in, negotiating deals, and getting hands-on to help these early stage companies grow.

“I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Working to ensure Indian food security and catalyze rural development is my life’s work. If I could do it over again, I would have moved here even earlier.”

Modernization of agri infrastructure in UP by Dutch

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n MOU has been signed between the Dutch Potato Cluster (DPC) and Chandra Shekhar Azad (CSA) University Of Agriculture & Technology, Kanpur with the aim to modernize agricultural infrastructure and agricultural practices, especially in potato cultivation and value addition.

While the Dutch side was represented

by Henk Van Duijn, Vice Chairman Netherlands Agro Food and

Technology Centre (Global), Munna Singh signed the collaboration document as Vice-Chancellor of CSA Agriculture and Technology University, an official release issued here today said.

The MoU broadly includes Technology Transfer to enhance the productivity levels and reduce the pre and postharvest losses and yield gap analysis to enhance the productivity levels.

Researchers from Wageningen University, Holland, will carry out these studies and research in cooperation with CSA University, the release said.

As part of the MoU, Netherlands Agro Food and Technology Centre (NAFTC) said it would organise training of farmers in last week of October before the sowing of potato in November.

With its extensive agricultural knowhow, Netherlands can support Uttar Pradesh with its highly necessary agricultural development and the Indian market offers a great opportunity for market enlargement for Dutch companies.

Earlier, a high-level delegation from Netherlands arrived here today to strengthen investment and collaboration among Dutch institutions, industry bodies and UP agri companies.

Innovative food technology of Netherlands will bring in efficiency in the food value chain by reducing wastage of food. Netherlands is a temperate region and very strong in seed and regular potato cultivation along with horticulture and processing, especially in mango processing, and it could be one of the potential areas.

Cargill sues Syngenta over shipments of GMO corn

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argill has filed a lawsuit against Syngenta AG, alleging the seed maker acted recklessly and irresponsibly in deciding to sell a new strain of GMO seed to China without first ensuring regulatory approval.

Corn grown from Syngenta’s new Agrisure Viptera corn seed strain, which China does not accept, was loaded onto ships at Cargill facilities. Cargill was forced to reroute ships that were enroute to Asia.

By November, China moved to ban all corn imports from the U.S. over concerns

about Agrisure Viptera. That has cost American farmers some $2.9 billion.

It’s safe to say the entire grain-shipping industry is pretty angry with Syngenta.

By marketing the new strain of seed to American growers before winning approval from China, Syngenta put the entire American corn industry and shippers like Cargill at risk. In early February both Cargill and rival Bunge said they would no longer transport Syngenta corn. A few days later, rivals ADM and Consolidated Grain followed suit.

Cargill’s decision to file a lawsuit is just

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the latest move in this fight. But it will likely turn out to be the most significant.

At issue is what will turn out to be the major issue in world trade of GMO food — who is responsible for ensuring that a crop meets the regulations of an importing country: the seed maker or the shipper?

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Review

Govt to cut down food losses from 18 % to much lower – Badal

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nion Food Processing Industries Minister Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal said her ministry will try to bring down losses in the agricultural commodities, particularly in fruits and vegetables, from the present 18% to much lower levels.

Addressing the meeting organised by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI) in association with the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) with Ministers of Food Processing Industries of States/ UTs, the Minister said that impetus on food processing can result to selfreliance in food production and maximisation of yield.

Quoting the study made in the year 2009, Smt. Badal said that the wastage of fruits and vegetables works out to around Rs.44,000 crores a year which can be reduced significantly by suitable investments in the food processing sector.

She said that presently only 2-3% of fruits and vegetables are processed and thus there was a great opportunity in the food processing sector.

Commenting on the progress in the National Mission for Food Processing (NMFP), the Minister noted with satisfaction that in the present year, in the first six months, 50% of the grants given to the states is going to be utilised, which is a healthy trend.

Mrs. Badal also requested the representatives of the states/ UTs to give suggestions by which the losses in the agricultural commodities could be reduced. She also laid stress on using practical engineering solutions using simple techniques particularly at the harvesting stage and transportation stage

so that farmers could get a better price for their produce and the wastage was minimised.

Siraj Hussain. Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing welcomed the representatives from Goa, Manipur, Odisha, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Karnataka etc.

The representatives of different States/ UTs also shared their experiences/ concerns/ suggestions with the Union Food Processing Minister. Lt. Gen. A. K. Singh, Governor, Andaman & Nicobar (A&N) Islands noted that 30% of India’s fish resources were in A& N Islands and they would collaborate with Andhra Pradesh for the fisheries sector. Smt. Badal advised them to also look at the

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coconut sector in processing activities.

Mr. Mahadev Naik, Minister for Industries, Goa, suggested that cold storage should be set up in villages for processing fish and meat. The Union Food Processing Minister Smt. Badal advised them to also look for upgradation of rice mills through the grants made available by the Ministry.

Mr. Krishna B.Gowda, Agriculture Minister, Karnataka, stressed on the need for backward integration of retail units with the Food Processing projects so that a direct connect is achieved between the consumers and the producers. He said that investments in organised retail would result in efficiencies in the food chain and better value for farmers.

He also highlighted the need for deregulation of agriculture markets. Citing the example of Karnataka, Mr. Gowda said that internet based auctioning of agricultural products as well as marketing de-regulation has brought good results.

He requested that food processing sector should be included in the priority agricultural lending by the banks.

The Union Food Processing Minister Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal said that her Ministry was looking at a new scheme of Mega Food Parks where cluster based approach would be followed which gives flexibility to the prospective entrepreneur regarding the area and the number and nature of units to be set up in the food parks.

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Organic Packaging

Enhancement of budgetary allocation for food processing suggested

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he Karnataka government today asked the Centre to enhance budgetary allocation for food processing sector to at least Rs 100 crore per annum or to the extent of project proposals received in a year.

“Considering the vast potential of the food processing sector, the budgetary allocation of Rs 770 crore made for MoFPI programmes is too meagre (0.16 per cent of the total plan outlay of Rs 4,84,532 crore of the Union government),” state minister for agriculture Krishna Byregowda said.

Speaking at a review meeting of the National Mission on Food Processing (NMFP) and other Central schemes of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI) jointly conducted by MoFPI

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and Assocham, in Delhi, he said the Central share of 75 per cent under NMFP may be enhanced to at least 90 per cent in the Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA), a centrally-sponsored scheme of the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation.

Talking of an upward revision of subsidy for component-I of NMFP, he said the grant-in-aid assistance for setting up food processing units or expansion may be enhanced to 50 per cent from 25 per cent. The ceiling may be enhanced to Rs 1 crore from Rs 50 lakh in view of the high project cost.

Byregowda also suggested for increasing the capital subsidy for establishing warehouses and cold storages. “To augment the storage potential of

foodgrains (required for implementing social security schemes like food security, MSP operations, mid-day meal), the present capital subsidy of 25 per cent for building warehouses under the Agriculture Marketing Infrastructure (AMI) scheme of the Union Government may be enhanced to 50 per cent in view of the increased construction cost,” he said.

Extension of a concessional rate of interest to all food processing units, decentralisation of all MoFPI schemes, instituting study to assess reasons for slow/poor progress of food parks of 10th Plan and inclusion of lending to food processing industry under agriculture lending are certain key suggestions given by the Karnataka Agriculture Minister to accomplish the objectives of NMFP/other central schemes of MoFPI.

Dunkin donuts to add 500 restaurant in India amid expansion plans

unkin’ Donuts is on target to add 500 restaurants in India as a part of its global expansion drive.

The parent of its namesake coffee and donut restaurants and Baskin-Robbins ice cream shops said that in working with its master franchisee in India, Jubilant FoodWorks, it has opened 36 Dunkin’ Donuts stores in 12 cities across India.

That includes its newest in Bangalore, which opened Thursday. Dunkin’ said it’s on track to open 500 stores in India over the long term. “ Dunkin’ Donuts is well on its way to

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having a national presence in India,” John Varughese, vice president of Dunkin’ Brands India, Middle East and Southeast Asia, said.

To attract Indian consumers, the donuts and coffee chain serves regional products that cater to local tastes, such as the Wicked Wrap, which features marinated spicy chicken tenders and nachos wrapped in a multigrain tortilla, and Spiked Iced Tea, which is freshly brewed iced tea with spices.

Dunkin’ this week also announced expansion plans in the American Southwest.

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Food processing Ministry to sustain Skill training

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ccording to the Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal The Union Ministry for Food Processing Industries will soon provide incentives to industrial units that provide skills training.

Badal, who is the first Minister for food processing industries, a separate portfolio created by the present government, said the industry can be a hub for job generation and skill development as there is a huge potential in food processing.

The central government will pay particular attention to encouraging processing of fruits and vegetables.

India is among the top three producers of fruits and vegetables, dairy products and seafood, but just 2-3 per cent of the fruits and vegetables are processed. In dairy and seafood about 25-30 per cent of the output is processed, she said.

Addressing the inaugural session of a seminar organised by the Indo American

Union minister visits Sri City in Satyavedu brief presentation on the industrial progress and the infrastructural facilities at Sri City, the Central minister along with government officials and the representatives of the SEZ went round the SEZ and inspected the rapid industrial progress at the SEZ.

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nion food processing industries minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal visited Sri City special economic zone near Satyavedu in Chittoor district on Saturday. The Union food processing industries minister, who arrived at the SEZ, was accorded a warm welcome by the officials of Sri City led by its managing director Ravindra Sannareddy.

After Mr Ravindra Sannareddy made a

Ms Harsimrat Kaur also had an interactive meeting with the heads of the key food and beverage processing units at Sri City including Cadbury India, Pepsi Co, Kellogg’s and other food processing units as well. Impressed with the vastness, infrastructure and industry-friendly ambiance of Sri City, the Union minister said “Sri City is a jewel among the SEZs in the country” and appreciated the management for creating

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Chamber of Commerce, Badal said the development of this sector can provide multiple benefits by preventing fluctuation in prices of agriculture produce, improve farmers’ income and generate jobs.

The Ministry is also working on a comprehensive food map that will give district-wise details of agriculture produce to help industry assess business opportunities.

In addition to the 22 ongoing projects for food parks, the new government has received over 84 applications for setting up food parks. Tamil Nadu, along with Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra is a leading state in the sector, she said hoping there would be greater participation from the state government and industry in utilising the incentives provided by the Centre. Ac

Russia’s ban on food imports creates fraud on both sides of border

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ussia’s plan to ban food imports isn’t working out as planned. Nor is the the EU’s plan to help European farmers hurt by Russian restrictions.

In Russia, a booming black-market trade in European food imports has emerged.

The trick is to ship food to Belarus, affix a stamp that says it was made in that country, then ship it to Russia.

Meanwhile, the EU has suspended a plan to offer aid to fruit and vegetable growers hurt by the ban amid suspicions of widespread fraud in the program.

Ah yes, what’s that old saying? Something about the “best laid schemes of mice and men and saber-rattling politicians, often go awry.” We can’t remember exactly how it goes, but you get the gist of it.

Surely food companies around the world will be watching as these events roll out, as the Ukraine crisis has already had a measurable impact on business.

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News

www.agronfoodprocessing.com

USDA approves five-fold increase in tomato lycopene limit in RTE meat

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eady to eat (RTE) meat products will now be able to use up to five times more tomato lycopene as a colorant following approval from the US department of agriculture (USDA).

Tomato lycopene colourants from Israelbased manufacturer LycoRed will replace FD&C Red #40 and carmine in a range of products like deli meats, sausages and

hot dogs.

LycoRed’s Tomat-O-Red is used in food products to increase their red hue and is similar to the effect produced by artificial and insectbased colours.

The market for natural food colour applications for global meat products saw a 21% increase in product launch activity in 2012 over 2011, and a further 5% increase in 2013 from 2012, according to data from Innova Market Insights.

“The colourant is heat and light stable and is based on lycopene, a carotenoid which is highly valued for its antioxidant health benefits.”

LycoRed colourant business unit manager Roee Nir said: “The USDA decision changes the ball game for us.

“We now may offer RTE meat

manufacturers dramatic color options that previously were only attainable with artificial or insect-derived colors.”

The LycoRed products can be used for giving colour to RTE beef, pork, poultry products and also RTE meats for the fastgrowing kosher and halal markets. The hahal and kosher markets forbid the use of carmine in colouring products.

The colourant is heat and light stable and is based on lycopene, a carotenoid which is highly valued for its antioxidant health benefits.

Tomat-O-Red is claimed to be produced from non-GMO tomatoes. The company oversees its production starting from the farmer’s fields to the finished product.

In addition to Tomat-O-Red, LycoRed will also launch its new, natural tomatobased ingredients for clean-label use soon.

seasoning + coating systems for snacks A-Z

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progress through innovation since 1950 info@heatandcontrol.com | heatandcontrol.com

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Food Processing & Packaging Systems

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Trade

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The Global Banana Trade Although bananas may only look like a fruit, they represent a wide variety of environmental, economic, social, and political problems. The banana trade symbolises economic imperialism, injustices in the global trade market, and the globalisation of the agricultural economy. Bananas are also number four on the list of staple crops in the world and one of the biggest profit makers in supermarkets, making them critical for economic and global food security…Bananas have become such a common, inexpensive grocery item that we often forget where they come from and how they got here’.

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oday, bananas are both a major staple in the global tropical zone as well as an important cash crop and significant fruit varietal available for American and European consumption.

They are the fourth most important crop worldwide for developing countries, where they provide an important starch source, especially in Africa and Asia. For instance, in Africa, as much as 400kg of plantain are consumed per year as a main source of calories. Bananas are produced mainly in tropical and sub-tropical areas of Africa, Asia, and America, as well as the Canary Islands and Australia. The fruit is non-seasonal and thus available year round, where it provides key foodstuffs between seasonal harvests of other staple crops.

The vast majority of bananas grown today are for consumption by the farmers or the local community, with only 15% of the

global production of the fruit grown for export. India is the leading producer of bananas worldwide, accounting for 23% of the total banana production, though most of the Indian plantains are for domestic use. Bananas are of significant economic importance elsewhere, such as the French Caribbean and Central America.

In the French Caribbean (Guadeloupe and Martinique), banana farming represents a huge industry, where about 260,000 plantains are produced each year. Ecuador, Costa Rica, the Philippine Islands, and Colombia account for two-thirds of the exported banana crops. Of the bananas grown for export, almost all are desert bananas grown for markets in the United States and Europe, of which the “Cavendish” banana varietal is of supreme importance. In general, the United States consumes fruits from Central and South America, whereas consumers in the European Union

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receive most of their plantains from the Caribbean.

Exported bananas are often picked in an unripened state, which makes for much easier transport to their countries of destination as “green” bananas are more resistant to spoilage and bruising than ripened fruits. Upon the end of their journey, the immature fruit are placed in special rooms filled with ethylene gas, which ripens the fruit to maturity.

Exports In 2013, the volume of global gross banana exports reached a record high of 16.5 million tonnes, 1.1 million tonnes (or 7.3 percent) above 2011 level. The increase is primarily explained by the growth of exports from Latin America and the Caribbean from 12.5 to 13.0 million tonnes, despite the poor performance of

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Ecuador. In Ecuador, the largest banana exporter in the world, banana exports shrank as flooding damaged the crop, reducing the output by 416 000 tonnes, or 5.6 percent, relative to 2011. The resulting 410 000 tonnes decline in shipments from Ecuador was more than offset by vigorous exports from other countries, in particular those in Central America.

While exports from South America declined by 6.4 percent relative to 2011, Central America and Mexico expanded their combined export volumes by 22.1 percent, possibly in anticipation of trade preferences for Central American bananas in the European market as part of the Association Agreement. As a result, the average share of South America in global banana exports has declined from 50.2 percent in 2007-2011 to 43.6 percent in 2012, while the share of Central America and Mexico increased from 29.4 percent to 33.4 percent.

Costa Rica’s export quantity reached 2.1 million tonnes in 2012, 126 000 tonnes higher than in 2011, overtaking Colombia as the second most important exporter in Latin America. In 2012 banana exports from Colombia dropped by 4.2 percent, from 1.91 in 2011 to 1.83 million tonnes, mainly due to the spread of Moko disease.

Guatemala’s exports have also surpassed those of Colombia, standing at 1.9 million tonnes in 2012 - an increase of 23.2 percent (362 000 tonnes) compared to 2011.

In Honduras, export volumes marked an astonishing 75 percent growth between 2011 and 2012, reaching a record 901 000 tonnes in 2012 or double the 2003 exports.

Mexico also registered an important increase in shipments, from 178 000 tonnes in 2011 to 308 000 tonnes in 2012.

Peru is another dynamic exporter, which had almost no exports prior to 2000 and reached 124 000 tonnes in 2012, or 13.8 percent above shipments made in 2011, most of which were fair trade and organic bananas grown by smallholder associations.

In the Caribbean, exports continued to be dominated by the Dominican Republic, which, apart from Belize, is the only country among the Caribbean ACP countries where bananas continue to be a major export despite the preference erosion in the European Union (EU) market, thanks to the strong focus on organic and fair trade bananas.

Nevertheless, following a period of dynamic growth from 2000 to 2011, in 2012 Dominican banana exports declined by 2.2 percent to 297 000 tonnes.

Other Caribbean countries have maintained very low volumes of exports, continuing the declining trend of recent years. Jamaica’s exports have virtually disappeared since 2008, and all production is now directed to the domestic market. Exports from other Caribbean countries excluding Dominican Republic have also registered a steady decline as a result of a combination of preference erosion on exports to the EU and climatic disasters that have severely undermined production. The combined exports from the Caribbean other than Dominican Republic plummeted from 88 000 tonnes in 2009 to 21 000 tonnes in 2011. In 2012 a slight recovery is estimated to take

place, reflecting primarily an expansion in exports from Saint Lucia from 6 200 tonnes to 12 100 tonnes.

Exports from Asia showed a remarkable recovery: After substantial declines in exports between 2006 and 2010, which were driven by shrinking exports from the Philippines, the volume of exports from the region rose 25.6 percent in 2011 and 27.1 percent in 2012, reaching

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almost 2.82 million tonnes, well above the previous record of 2.4 million tonnes in 2006. Because of this recovery, the Philippines returned to being the second largest exporter of bananas in the world after Ecuador.

With the remarkable growth rates in both 2011 and 2012, the Philippines reached the peak of its export performance in 2012 at 2.6 million tonnes, corresponding to 93.9 percent of all exports from Asia.

Africa’s exports, which accounted for 3.9 percent of global banana shipments, grew by 2.4 percent in 2012 as exports reached 649 000 tonnes. Côte d’Ivoire, the largest exporter in the region, shipped 339 000 tonnes of bananas in 2012, or 6.0 percent more than in 2011, while exports from Cameroon, the second largest African exporter, declined by 1.0 per cent to 246 000 tonnes.

Imports The United States and EC-27 each imported approximately 27 percent of all bananas traded internationally in 2012, while other importers operated at a much smaller scale. After a record high of almost 1.31 million tonnes of bananas imported by Russia in 2011, when purchases grew by 22.4 percent, those in 2012 declined by 4.1 percent to approximately 1.26 million tonnes.

A similar situation is observed in China: After a rapid expansion of banana imports over the past four years, they declined from the record high of 910 000 tonnes in 2011 to 716 000 tonnes in 2012, corresponding to a 21.3 percent drop, mostly due to the increase in domestic production. Japan’s imports registered a moderate growth of 2.1 percent and reached almost 1.1 million tonnes in 2012.

Weak demand in the EU was the main feature of the banana market in 2012.

According to the provisional data, in 2012 EC-27 banana imports declined to

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approximately 4.49 million tonnes (115 000 tonnes less than in 2011), the lowest level since 2006. Most of the EU’s banana suppliers were affected by the decline, but Ecuador, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic registered largest decreases in export quantities. In part, this drop was driven by an increase in bananas produced in the EU, from 612 000 tonnes to 649 000 tonnes. However, the decline also reflected a drop in per capita consumption, from 10.4 kg in 2011 to 10.2 kg in 20122.

Furthermore, the appreciation of the United States (US) dollar constrained the demand for “dollar bananas”. Among the major exporters to the EU market, only Peru, Belize and Ghana increased their exports to the region.

US imports, on the contrary, showed dynamic growth in 2012, increasing for the third consecutive year. Import volumes increased by 227 000 tonnes or 5.5 percent relative to 2011, reflecting strong US demand for bananas. Since domestic banana production in the US is negligible, net imports provide a good approximation for total per capita consumption, which increased from 11.6 kg in 2010 to 13.2 kg in 2011 and further to 13.8 in 2012. As a result, imports registered a record 4.35 million tonnes of bananas, nearly as much as the EC-27. US imports from Ecuador showed a considerable decline of 18 percent, or 159 000 tonnes compared to 2011, reflecting primarily lower output of bananas in Ecuador.

This decline was more than offset by vigorous imports from other sources and especially imports from Central America and Mexico, which increased by 326 000 tonnes. This was consistent with the overall performance of these exporters. Mexico’s exports of bananas to the US registered a particularly strong growth rate at 50 percent, corresponding to an additional 75 000 tonnes compared to 2011. Imports from Colombia and Honduras also demonstrated a large increase.

Policy developments The banana trade disputes between the EU and the Latin American banana producing countries officially ended in 2012. The longest series of disputes in the history of the World Trade Organization (WTO),

dating back to 1992, was concluded on 8 November 2012 by the signing of the Geneva Agreement on Trade in Bananas which was negotiated in 2009 between the EU and Latin American banana producers.

At the core of the agreement was the adoption of new commitments on MFN tariffs on bananas by the EU. As the first step, in 2009 the EU reduced its import tariff from 176 to 148 euros/tonne. The maximum tariff rates are then set to decline, reaching 114 euros/tonne in 2017 at the earliest or 2019 at the latest.

In return for MFN tariff reduction by the EU, the US and Latin American countries agreed to cease all legal disputes against the EU at the WTO and not demand any additional cuts for bananas in the Doha Round negotiations on agriculture. At the average import price of 623 euros/tonne in 2012, the MFN tariff of 136 euros/ tonne was equivalent to 21.8 percent advalorem duty.

Compared to the MFN tariff, EU duties on bananas from Colombia, Peru and Central American countries have been reduced as part of the trade deals in the Association Agreements that these countries have signed with the EU. Since 1 August 2013, the free trade provisions of the Agreements are applied to imports from Colombia, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, while preferential trade arrangements between the EU and Peru have been in force since March 2013. Under these arrangements, the preferential tariff for these countries was set at 124 euros/tonne in 2013 and will be gradually reduced to 75 euros/ tonne by 2020. The same provisions would apply to Costa Rica, Guatemala and El Salvador in the coming months.

Mexico is benefiting from an import quota of 2 000 tonnes with an intra-quota duty of 70 euros/tonne.

ACP banana suppliers who have an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU, benefit from duty and quota free access to the EU market. All current banana suppliers in the ACP5 have concluded negotiations on either a full or interim EPA and are therefore exempt from any import duties on bananas.

However, apart from some of the African exporters, ACP producers do not have

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Trade the economies of scale to compete with banana suppliers from South and Central America. The situation is exacerbated by the lack of strategic partnerships along the value chain (in the exporter, wholesaler and retailer segments), except for the Windward Islands which market their bananas through their own distribution company.

The gradual reduction in the MFN tariff and preferential duties on bananas from Latin American countries entails preference erosion for the ACP countries.

So far, it appears that the implications for ACP banana exports to the EU have been rather subdued, with the exception of some of the Caribbean countries, where preference erosion contributed to a decline already underway. No sizable expansion of exports from Latin America to the EU has been registered after the agreement on bananas was reached.

The EU’s imports from the majority of Latin American countries decreased in 2012 due to weak demand. Among the ACP countries, the performance has been mixed. While countries like Belize managed to substantially expand their exports to the EU, others, like Cameroon, have seen their export share decrease.

Moreover, some ACP countries, like Côte d’Ivoire, managed to diversify their exports destinations, with significant growth in exports accounted for by the expansion in shipments to destination outside the EU. However, preference erosion remains a cause of concern for many ACP countries. To help them adjust to the new trade regime by either boosting the competitiveness of their banana sector or diversifying into other productive activities, the EU is providing financial support to these countries through the Banana Accompanying Measures (BAM). In total 190 million euros were allocated. These support measures were proposed by the European Commission in March 2010. However, the process of adopting BAM as a legal instrument has been protracted as the Council and the European Parliament (EP) engaged in a series of extended debates on the proposal.

An agreement was finally reached at the

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end of 2011, providing long awaited legal basis for the BAM. However, the calls for project proposals to be supported with BAM have only been launched in 2013.

The beneficiary countries are those which exported more than 10 000 tonnes per year on average over the past decade: Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana in Africa; and Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname in the Caribbean.

Current outlook

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situation

and

short-term

Global supplies of bananas in 2013 could be severely affected by difficult crop prospects in Ecuador and the Philippines.

In Ecuador output projections indicate a further decline in 2013 as the area under cultivation has shrunk. This decline, in part, reflects the pessimistic outlook of Ecuadorian producers, since their bananas will struggle to remain competitive in the European market where practically all other exporters will be paying a preferential tariff, while Ecuador continues to pay an MFN duty rate. In the Philippines, weather conditions have negatively affected banana production: About one quarter of the banana crop in the Philippines was destroyed by Typhoon Bopha in December 2012.

Shipments of bananas from Central America and Colombia, on the other hand, will remain solid, aided by the entry into force of the preferential duty rates charged on exports to the EU. Exports from Colombia are expected to recover once the campaign to eradicate Moko is successfully completed. The demand for bananas in both the EU and Russia seem to recover in 2013, as imports are showing promising signs: During the first 9 months of 2013 import quantities in the EU and Russia increased by 5.6 and 5.7 percent relative to the same period in 2012, respectively.

US imports are also likely to grow in 2013 as monthly imports have been consistently above those of 2012 in both value and volume. Overall, during the first three quarters of 2013, the volume of US imports increased 4.6 percent.

In 2013 the import prices in the US seemed to have stabilized at a somewhat lower level compared to the record prices in 2012. The average US import price during the first 6 months of 2013 stood at USD 923/tonne, or 7.4 percent lower than during the same period in 2012. This is still well above the average import prices prevalent in the EU, although some countries, like France, are showing a tendency towards higher prices in 2013.

Overall, prices in the EU are expected to remain firm and close to the 2012 level.

The ACP countries will continue to enjoy preferential access to the EU market, although the preferential margin vis-à-vis the major exporters, such as Colombia and Costa Rica, will be shrinking over time as the free trade agreements with these countries enter into force. Unless Ecuador enters into new negotiations with the EU, it will continue paying higher tariffs than its major competitors, undermining Ecuador’s export opportunities. While the gap between the MFN tariff and the preferential tariff of Colombia, for example, was not that high in 2013 (132 euros/tonne versus 124 euros/tonne), the difference will increase substantially by 2020, unless a new reduction on the MFN tariff is achieved as part of multilateral trade talks on agriculture. At current import prices in the EU, by 2020 Ecuador would be paying 18 percent in ad-valorem tariff equivalent, while the preferential rate for Colombia, Peru and Central America would be 12 percent.

Indian banana market Despite being one of the largest banana producers in the world, exports of the fruit from India to various countries saw a steep decline in 2012-13 due to low pricing in the international market.

Brazil and India are the two biggest banana producing countries in the world, but India hardly has a significant share in the International trade, accounting for just 0.02 per cent of the total of 90.7 million tonnes, the Confederation of Indian Industry’s feasibility report on banana trade said.

India while being the largest producer

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of Banana at about 28 per cent of world production, does not account as one of the banana trading nations.

India exports to United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Bahrain, Nepal, Qatar, Oman, Maldivesand the Korean republic. In volume terms India exports constitute 4.50 crore units. In 2012, 21,525 metric tonnes of banana were exported of the total 2,56,767 fresh fruit exports from the country. In value terms, banana exports slipped to Rs 29.39 crore (from Rs 81.19 crore in 2010-11) of total fresh fruit exports of Rs 735.83 crore in 2011-12. In 2010-11, it was Rs 495.98 crore. In volume terms, exports of banana stood at 34,711 units of the total fresh fruits of 2,54,900 in 2010-11.

The main markets that produce banana in India are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka, accounting for 68.67 per cent of India’s production, the report said, adding banana ranks first in production after Mango and citrus among fruit crops.

Banana production has gradually increased in the last 20 years due to various factors like increase in cultivation area from two lakh hectares to 6.2 lakh, improved productivity and concerted efforts in banana research and development.

Among various varieties of banana, the Cavendish variety accounts for 69 per cent of production, followed by Poovan 17 per cent, Pome, Nendran, Rasthali, Bluggoe each four per cent.

Conclusion The developing countries account for bulk of Banana exports in world trade, The largest banana exporters are Ecuador at 18 per cent, Costa Rica 12 per cent, Columbia 12 per cent, Honduras 11 per cent,Philippines 11 per cent and Panama six per cent.

These six countries account for 73 per cent of the banana trade and USA and the European Union are major banana consumers. India though the largest producer is nowhere near the list.

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Food allergens

Food allergies are abnormal responses of the immune system, especially the production of allergen-specific IgE antibodies, to naturally occurring proteins in certain foods that most people can eat safely The current allergen efforts are focused on the eight foods that most frequently cause serious allergic reactions in sensitive individuals and account for more than 90% of all food allergies: peanuts, soybeans, milk, eggs, fish, crustacea, tree nuts and wheat. Most consumers are aware of their specific sensitivities and rely on the food label to avoid foods that might result in an allergenic reaction. However, adverse reactions often occur when an allergen-sensitive consumer consumes an allergenic substance that has not been declared on the food label.

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or a small percentage of people, specific foods or components of food may cause adverse reactions.

These are typically classified as food allergies (i.e. reactions which involve the immune system) or food intolerances (i.e. reactions which do not involve the immune system). Allergen terminology has been published by the World Allergy Organization is based on terminology originally proposed by the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI).

A food allergy occurs when an allergen (i.e. a protein in a food, which in the majority of people will not produce an adverse reaction) sets off a chain of reproducible reactions involving the immune system. The reactions can be either antibody- or cell-mediated. The former is the most common and occurs in two stages: 1. Sensitisation: Initial contact with an allergen does not evoke an allergic reaction but rather primes the immune system. Dendritic cells (a special type of white blood cells), which are found in numerous locations throughout the body including patches/pockets within the intestinal wall, play a pivotal role at this stage. When dendritic cells encounter foreign molecules they capture them and present them to other cells (T-cells) of the immune system. In the case of an allergic individual, the immune system incorrectly identifies certain proteins as harmful. This results in the production of large quantities of allergen-specific IgE antibodies which bind to the surface of mast cells (i.e. tissue cells).

2. Reaction: Once sensitisation has occurred, subsequent exposure to that allergen can lead to an allergic reaction, i.e. in a sensitised individual the allergenic protein cross-links with the IgE antibodies on the surface of the mast cells causing release of histamine or other substances such as leukotrienes and prostaglandins.

These result in allergic symptoms (e.g. itching, swelling). In many cases the reactions are immediate but they can take several hours to develop. (5) Foods implicated in allergic responses More than 120 foods have been described

Food Allergens

as causing food allergies, but only a limited number of those cause most allergic reactions. The most common causes of food allergy are peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, fish, cows’ milk, crustacean/ molluscs/shellfish, soya beans, and cereals containing gluten, although this pattern varies internationally. A study found that fruits (e.g. peach) and nuts (e.g. hazelnut) were the most common allergen sources, often in association with pollen.

in boiled than roasted peanuts. This has been attributed to the loss of low molecular weight allergens into the water.

Furthermore, the interaction with other proteins, fats and carbohydrates in the food matrix can also influence allergenicity.

One example is the Maillard reaction, which is the chemical interaction between amino acids and sugars during heating (or storage). In milk, the interaction between the protein beta-lactoglobulin and the sugar lactose increases allergenicity.

Role of Food processing in allergens An allergic response is initiated in a sensitive individual when an allergenic protein cross-links with IgE antibodies on the surface of mast cells causing release of histamine or other substances such as leukotrienes and prostaglandins. The part of the protein responsible for IgE crosslinking is known as the epitope. The epitope may constitute a simple structure, i.e. a stretch of a few amino acids along the primary structure (linear epitopes) or it may be a more complex three dimensional structure (conformational epitope). More than one epitope is required for IgE crosslinking. Some allergenic proteins contain multiple copies of the same epitope; while, others may have several different epitopes. Changes to the epitope (e.g. any modification, deletion or substitution of amino acids) may influence its ability to cross-link with IgE and this may influence allergenicity. In certain circumstances, food processing can alter the epitope and thus alter the allergenicity of foods.

It can lead to epitope destruction, modification, masking or unmasking thereby decreasing, increasing or having no effect on allergenicity. The effect is influenced not only by the molecular properties of the allergen but also the type of processing and the interaction between the allergen and other food components.

Proteolysis (breakdown of proteins into smaller polypeptides or amino acids) can also influence allergenicity.

Proteolysis can be achieved through the use of enzymes such as proteases and has been used to decrease the allergenicity of soybean. Physical removal of the allergenic component is another means of decreasing the allergenicity of foods.

For some foodstuffs a combination of techniques is used. For example treatment of milk with proteases followed by ultra filtration is used to prepare hypoallergenic products such as infant formulae; while a combination of enzyme and heat treatment has been shown to reduce the allergenic potential of hen’s egg 100 fold.

Some thermal processes (e.g. cooking, baking, grilling, drying and sterilisation) can influence allergenicity. High temperatures can lead to epitope destruction as a result of protein denaturation; however, some allergenic proteins, such as the peanut allergen Ara h 1, may be thermostable. The type of thermal process is also significant, e.g. it has been shown that the allergenicity of peanuts (Virginian variety) is lower

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These findings highlight the opportunities and challenges facing food processors in reducing and eliminating food allergens.

Biotechnology (Genetically modified foods) and allergens The manipulation of plants, animals or microorganisms so that they possess particular characteristics is possible through the identification, isolation and manipulation of individual genes or groups of genes that are responsible for specific physical or metabolic traits (i.e. genetic modification or engineering).

From a safety perspective genetically modified (GM) food is one of the most scrutinised food types. Prior to being placed on the market, GM foods undergo a safety assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) which includes an assessment of allergenicity of the new trait. Member States and the public can comment on both the application and the EFSA safety assessment. A Standing continue on page 39

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Russia’s ban on food imports creates fraud on both sides of border

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ussia’s plan to ban food imports isn’t working out as planned. Nor is the the EU’s plan to help European farmers hurt by Russian restrictions.

In Russia, a booming blackmarket trade in European food imports has emerged. The trick is to ship food to Belarus, affix a stamp that says it was made in that country, then ship it to Russia.

Meanwhile, the EU has suspended a plan to offer aid to fruit and vegetable growers hurt by the ban amid suspicions of widespread fraud in the program.

Ah yes, what’s that old saying?

Something about the “best laid schemes of mice and men and saber-rattling politicians, often go awry.” We can’t remember exactly how it goes, but you get the gist of it. Surely food companies around the world will be watching as these events roll out, as the Ukraine crisis has already had a measurable impact on business.

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Committee of experts from Member States decides on whether to authorise a GM food or not. GM food authorisation is for a period of 10 years; however, the authorisation must be renewed if the food is to remain on the market any longer. This process ensures that GM foods allowed on the EU market are as safe as their nonGM counterparts. This process is outlined in the GM Food and Feed Regulation (EC No. 1829/2003). (43) GM technology can also be used to remove allergens from foods, e.g. the production of soy products that would pose a smaller risk of food allergies than standard soybeans. (44) Management of allergen risks by the food industry The food industry has a legal obligation to produce safe food for. Regarding allergens, the food industry achieves this through: • The implementation of a food safety management system based on principles of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP).

• Labelling of foodstuffs to inform the consumer of the presence of allergens.

Many challenges are faced by the food industry in the management of allergen risk; e.g. lack of threshold values and quantitative legislative guidance and also, lack of validated analytical methods for allergen detection. These issues are discussed below.

HACCP HACCP is a food safety management system which ensures potential hazards (i.e. biological, physical and chemical hazards) are identified and strategies are put in place to control them before they threaten the safety of the food. HACCP forms international food legislation and is a key component of global trade in food products. Today, food industry standards play a major role in assisting food businesses to achieve compliance with legislation and in many cases exceed legislative requirements. Furthermore, they enable food businesses to ensure consistency in terms of product safety and quality.

Allergen management is an integral part of a food business’ food safety management system to manage potential risks from food allergens. Allergen management covers all aspects of the business from sourcing and handling of the raw materials through manufacturing, processing and packaging of the finished product. It is also an important consideration during new product development.

One of the biggest challenges for the food industry is the avoidance of cross contamination between ingredients/foods known to be allergenic and non-allergenic ingredients/foods. For example, in many manufacturing premises production lines dedicated to the manufacture of a single product are not always feasible or practical for commercial or other reasons. Therefore, cleaning of shared equipment, processing lines and the local environment is one of the critical points for effective allergen control.

Manufacturers define cleaning procedures and cleaning schedules appropriate for their facilities (e.g. wet/dry cleaning) and these are then validated (to ensure the cleaning programme is effective) and verified (to demonstrate that the validated cleaning procedures have been properly performed).

Labelling Legislative requirements Labelling is essential to assist consumers, who have allergies or intolerances, by providing them with information on the composition of foodstuffs. Although many foods or groups of foods can trigger an allergic reaction, only 14 substances or products require specific allergen labelling under international law) which applies until 13 December 2014 and Regulation No 1169/2011 , which applies after that date. These allergenic ingredients (including those carried over in processing aids, additives and solvents) must be indicated on the label of a foodstuff: 1. Cereals containing gluten and products thereof 2. Crustaceans and products thereof 3. Eggs and products thereof 4. Fish and products thereof 5. Peanuts and products thereof

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Food Allergens 6. Soybeans and products thereof 7. Milk and products thereof (including lactose) 8. Nuts i.e. almond, hazelnut, walnut, cashew, pecan nut, brazil nut, pistachio nut, Macadamia nut and Queensland nut and products thereof 9. Celery and products thereof 10. Mustard and products thereof 11. Sesame seeds and products thereof 12. Sulphur dioxide and sulphites at concentrations of more than 10mg/kg or 10 mg/litre expressed as SO2 13. Lupin and products thereof 14. Molluscs and products thereof The scientific justification for mandatory labelling of these allergenic ingredients has been provided by the EFSA Scientific Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA). However, it is important to note that specified derivatives of some of these 14 substances and products may be exempted from this labelling requirement, if based on an opinion by EFSA it has been concluded that they are not likely to result in an adverse reaction in susceptible individuals.

From 13th December 2014, new rules will be in force regarding allergen labelling.

Firstly, the name of the allergen must be clearly distinguished from the other ingredients on the label of pre-packaged foodstuffs, e.g. by font, style or colour.

Secondly, allergen information must be provided for non-prepacked food (i.e. foods sold loose in restaurants, take-away foods, deli counters, and food stalls etc).

This new requirement is particularly important considering that most food allergy incidents are linked to nonprepacked food and food eaten outside of the home The legislation is not prescriptive in terms of how this information should be provided for non-pre-packed foods, it simply states that the exact requirements should be established in national law.

Voluntary precautionary labels Although every effort is taken by industry to eliminate the risk posed by the unintended presence of food allergens, in many businesses it is virtually impossible to produce a zero risk product. Thus precautionary labelling such as ‘may

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contain…..’or ‘prepared in a factory that uses……’ are sometimes used by manufacturers if they consider that unintended allergens may be present in amounts that could pose a risk. However, it is important to note that precautionary labelling cannot replace the allergen management system that each food business is obliged to have in place as part of its food safety management system.

Food Allergens

2. When applied prudently, precautionary labels can help protect vulnerable consumers. However the unwarranted use of precautionary labels can: i) result in the unnecessary elimination of healthy

the wording (e.g. ‘not suitable for nut allergy sufferers ‘versus ‘may contain traces of nuts’ etc) reflects a gradation of risk.(49)

options from the diet of allergic consumers or ii) reduce their credibility causing vulnerable consumers to take risks with these foods. Regarding the latter, a study of British parents of children with nut allergy found that many either ignored warning labels on foods or assumed that

Establishing thresholds Allergen safety thresholds may be defined at two levels: individual thresholds and population thresholds. An individual threshold is the maximum amount of an allergen that can be tolerated by an allergic individual. A population threshold, on

Hence labeling of unintended allergens should only take place in situations where the risk of unintended presence is real and cannot realistically be expected to be kept under control.

Furthermore, although no specific legislation currently exists on precautionary labelling, legislation is expected in the future once the relevant EFSA mandate has been completed.

Currently, there are two main issues surrounding voluntary precautionary labelling: 1.The absence of allergen safety thresholds (i.e. the minimum dose that can elicit a reaction in a substantial proportion of vulnerable consumers) and labelling thresholds (i.e. the level above which requires a specific declaration on the product packaging) has been problematic for manufacturers and has resulted in inconsistencies in the application of precautionary labelling. It has also been problematic for regulators, with the result that the attitude and reaction to the unintended presence of low levels of undeclared allergens in foods varies.

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the other hand, is the maximum amount of an allergen that can be tolerated by the entire population (or a representative sub-population) of individuals with that food allergy. However, the establishment of population thresholds which protect all sensitive individuals is virtually impossible and thus the establishment of population thresholds, which avoid serious reactions in the vast majority of sensitive individuals are more realistic.

Population thresholds can help both the food industry and regulatory authorities assess the public health risk and design appropriate food safety objectives to guide risk management.(50) For example, they could provide a scientific basis for effective and consistent mandatory and precautionary labelling.

In recent years, progress has been made in filling the data gaps, which prevented quantitative risk assessments and thus the establishment of safety thresholds.

Tools to analyse these data have also been developed (nowadays statistical modelling of dose distributions is a commonly accepted approach for characterising hazards arising from allergens, so also are probabilistic approaches for estimating

the likely consequences of a particular pattern of allergen contamination). Other progress includes a practical approach to allergen risk assessment, known as VITAL (Voluntary Incidental Trace Allergen Labelling).

VITAL is a risk based methodology for assessing the impact of allergen cross contact and providing appropriate precautionary allergen labelling. It uses an action grid which assists in determining if the presence of residual allergenic proteins through unavoidable cross contact requires a precautionary labelling statement. Food allergies are a common, serious--and sometimes fatal-problem. Almost 11 million Americans have food allergies; many are children.

The prevalence of food allergies, particularly among children, is on the rise (Sicherer, Munoz-Furlong, & Sampson, 2003, 2004). Although any food can cause an allergic reaction, eight foods, namely peanuts, tree nuts (like walnuts and cashews), milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, soy, and wheat account for 90% of all food allergies.

Conclusion

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Food Allergens An allergic reaction is triggered when the immune system mistakenly overreacts to a food that it thinks is a harmful invader.

This overreaction causes symptoms that may appear within seconds to hours after eating a trigger food. Fortunately, most allergic reactions are mild. They may cause a runny nose, sneezing, itching skin, hives, and digestive upset. For those who are severely allergic, exposure to a trigger food may cause life-threatening reactions.

The tongue, lips, or throat may swell so severely that the person cannot breathe (Basset, 2005). Death will occur without immediate medical help. Unfortunately, sudden severe allergic reactions (known as “anaphylaxis�) to food cause 200 deaths annually.

The only proven way to prevent triggering a reaction in those with a food allergy is to avoid the offending food. Avoidance measures include reading food labels for allergenic ingredients, asking questions about meal ingredients when eating outside of the home, and adopting food handling behaviors that prevent cross contact with allergens.

India:

Selling Out To Monsanto GMOs and the Bigger Picture

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n 15 August, India marked its 68th anniversary of independence from Britain. It may seem strange to some that a nation would publicly celebrate its independence while at the same time it less publicly cedes it to outsiders. The gleaming façade of flags and fly-pasts will belie the fact that national security and independence do not depend on military might and patriotic speeches.

Eye-catching celebrations will take place in Delhi and much of the media will mouth platitudes about the strength of the nation and its independence. The reality is, however, an ongoing, concerted attempt to undermine and destroy the very foundation and security of the country.

The bedrock of any society is its agriculture. Without food there can be no life.

Without food security, there can be no genuine independence. A recent report by the organisation GRAIN revealed that small farms produce most of the world’s food and are more productively efficient than large farms. Facilitated by an appropriate policy framework, small farmers could easily feed the global population. But small farmers are currently squeezed onto less than a quarter of the world’s farmland and the world is fast losing farms and farmers through the concentration of land into the hands big agribusiness and the rich and powerful. If nothing is done to reverse this trend, the world will lose its capacity to feed itself.

By definition, peasant agriculture prioritises food production for local and national markets as well as for farmers’ own families. Corporations take over scarce fertile land and prioritise non-food commodities or export crops for profit and markets far away that cater for the needs of the affluent. This process impoverishes local communities and brings about food insecurity. GRAIN concludes that the concentration of fertile agricultural land in fewer and fewer hands is directly related to the increasing number of people going hungry every day.

The Oakland Institute in the US recently stated that the first years of the 21st century will be remembered for a global land rush of nearly unprecedented scale [2]. An estimated 500 million acres, an area eight times the size of Britain, was reported bought or leased across the developing world between 2000 and 2011, often at the expense of local food security and land rights. This trend could eventually result in the permanent shift of farm ownership from family businesses to institutional investors and other consolidated corporate operations.

Monsanto in India In India, small farms account for 92

percent of farms and occupy around 40 percent of all agricultural land. They form the bedrock of food production.

However, there is a concerted effort to remove farmers from the land. Hundreds of thousands of farmers have taken their lives since 1997 and many more are experiencing economic distress or have left farming as a result of debt, a shift to (GM) cash crops and economic liberalisation.

Monsanto already controls the cotton industry in India and is increasingly shaping agri-policy and the knowledge paradigm by funding agricultural research in public universities and institutes. Its practices and colonisation of institutions have led to it being called the ‘contemporary East India Company’, and regulatory bodies are now severely compromised and riddled with conflicts

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gmo of interest where decision-making over GMOs are concerned.

In the meantime, Monsanto and the GM biotech sector forward the myth that GM food is necessary to feed the world’s burgeoning population. They are not. Aside from the review by GRAIN, the World Bank-funded International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge and Science for Development Report stated that smallholder, traditional farming (not GMOs) can deliver food security in low-income countries through sustainable agri-ecological systems.

The Standing Committee on Agriculture in Parliament unequivocally concluded that GM seeds and foods are dangerous to human, animal and environmental health and directed the former Government of Manmohan Singh to ban GMOs [6].

Despite such evidence and the recommendations to put a hold on open field GM trials by the Supreme Court-appointed Technical Expert Committee, the push is on within official circles to give such trials the green light.

Monsanto cannot be trusted The GM biotech sector cannot be trusted. As its largest player, Monsanto is responsible for knowingly damaging people’s health and polluting the environment and is guilty of a catalogue of decades-long deceptive, duplicitous and criminal practices. It has shown time and again its contempt for human life and the environment and that profit overrides any notion of service to the public, yet it continues to propagate the lie that it has humanity’s best interests at heart because its so-called GMO ‘frontier technology’ can feed the hungry millions.

The sector attempts to control the ‘science’ around its products by carrying out inadequate, secretive studies of its own, placing restrictions on any independent research into its products and censoring findings that indicate the deleterious impacts of its products. It has

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also faked data and engages in attacking scientists who reach conclusions not to its liking. It cannot demonstrate that yields are better, nutritional values are improved, health is not damaged or that harm to the environment does not occur with the adoption of GMOs. Independent studies and evidence, not inadequate industry funded or back ones, have indicated yields are often worse and herbicide use has increased, health is negatively impacted, soil is damaged and biodiversity is undermined, among other things.

GRAIN found that around 56 percent of Russia’s agricultural output comes from family farms which occupy less than 9 percent of arable land. Russia does not need or want GM crops, which the Russian Prime Minister has described as amounting to little more than a form of biological warfare weapon.

And here lies the real heart of the matter. Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once said that if you control oil you control nations, but if you control food you control people. GMOs are not needed to feed the world.

Science cannot justify their use.

They are a weapon.

in helping India develop its civil nuclear capabilities. Payback appears to come in the form of handing over the control of India’s agricultural land and food system to the US via that country’s biotech companies.

GMOs and the bigger picture Russia is correct to conflate bio-terror and GMOs. The oil-rich Rockefeller family set out to control global agriculture via the petrochemical-dependent ‘green revolution’. The destruction of traditional farmer-controlled agriculture was actively supported by the US government and its Trojan horse

agritech corporations under the agenda set out by Kissinger.

GMOs now represent the ultimate stranglehold over food via ‘terminator’ seed technology, seed patenting and intellectual property rights.

In India, there is a drive to remove small/family farms, which are capable of ensuring the nation’s food security, and eventually replace them with larger biotech-controlled monoculture farms with GM crops for Western styled processed-food supermarkets and export.

It is no surprise that the likes of Syngenta, Monsanto and Walmart had a direct hand in drawing up the Knowledge Initiative on Agriculture, which was in turn linked to the US sanctioning the opening up of India’s nuclear power sector.

Moreover, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Gates Foundation – which have teamed up with Monsanto in Africa – have long-standing concerns about overpopulation in ‘third world’ countries and how they could develop and threaten resources that the West has used to enrich itself with [21]. In fact, Monsanto now own the Epicyte gene, which causes sterility. What will be the ‘final solution’ for the likes of 600 million in India or millions in Africa or elsewhere who are to be removed from agriculture? The eugenicists are knocking at the door.

Despite India not being a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, US corporations are now actively involved

Despite compliant politicians and officials in high places who seem hellbent on capitulating to Monsanto and the US,

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gmo many recognise the dangers associated with GMOs and are working hard to resist their introduction. However, they are attacked and accused of slowing down growth because of their resistance to GMOs [23]. Certain activists and civil organisations are also accused of working against the national interest by colluding with foreign interests to undermine ‘development’. The hypocrisy is blindingly obvious: the state itself has for a long time been colluding with foreign interests to undermine the basis of traditional agriculture.

The political backing for GMOs by the US State Department, the strategic position of the US GM biotech sector in international trade agreements and the push to get GMOs into India and to contaminate agriculture via open-field trials with the compliance of key officials and official bodies does not bode well. Independence is much more than military might, patriotic slogans and a self-congratulatory mediainduced frenzy on a designated day each year. In terms of GMOs, Russia is aware of this. It is actively committed to putting the GMO genie back in the bottle [24].

Why isn’t India?

“It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity… The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us. Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?....A new star rises, the star of freedom in the east, a new hope comes into being, a vision long cherished materialises. May the star never set and that hope never be betrayed!” Jawaharlal Nehru from his “tryst with destiny” speech at Parliament House in New Delhi in 1947.

Curtsey: http://www.globalresearch.ca

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Ice Cream

his article uses a consumer the perspective of consumer behaviour. between brands, ice- cream consumers behavioural perspective to analyse Variety Seeking Behaviour in the Ice- follow a variety seeking behaviour. the attractiveness of probiotic ice- Cream Industry Different companies use different creams, which straddles the ice cream The Indian ice-cream market comprises attitudinal components (affective, category and the probiotic foods category. Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing cognitive and conative) to deal with The article then goes on to deal with Federation’s (GCMMF) Amul, HUL’s variety seeking behaviour as discussed consumer attitudinal issues with regard Kwality Walls, Mother Dairy, Baskin below: to this new sub-category.

Cognitive Issues that emerge due to • Baskin Robins conflicting belief systems allows you to associated with the parent discover and product categories as create your own well as issues inherited flavour from the parent categories • Amul’s are explored. The article introduction of finally presents a marketing probiotic and strategy for the new subsugar-free icecategory using attitudinal Exhibit 1 Strategic Experiential Modules for different ice-cream brands creams concepts.

Affective Probiotic ice cream straddles the ice Robbins and a number of regional brands. • Amul’s use of humour in hoardings that cream category and the probiotic foods Amul’s brand proposition is ice-creams serve as reminder advertisements category. Probiotic foods contain probiotic made of natural milk at reasonable prices. • Kwality Walls advertisements have bacteria that help in digestion, improve Kwality Walls’ proposition is ice-creams emotional appeal the immune system and fight against for pleasure and bonding. Baskin Robbins Conative allergic reactions. These are • All brands offer a functional foods i.e. foods variety of products that have health benefits. and variants Functional foods are a to discourage part of the larger wellness consumers from industry.

This article seeking competitor analyses the probiotic iceproducts for cream category, discusses variety issues pertaining to this sub• Mother dairy has category and formulates a numerous easily Exhibit 2 Probiotic Ice-Cream vs. Standard marketing strategy for them. accessible outlets Ice-Cream • Low prices of Attractiveness of the unorganized and Probiotic Ice-Cream Sub-Category is positioned as offering high quality regional players To analyse the attractiveness of the premium ice-creams with innumerable Exhibit 1 analyses the brand offerings of probiotic ice-cream sub-category, it exotic flavours. different companies from an experiential is essential to analyse the ice cream Because ice creams are a low involvement marketing perspective that takes into industry and the wellness industry from product with significant differences account five strategic experiential

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modules - sense, think. act, feel and relate: inherited from the probiotics category Exhibit 1 Strategic Experiential Modules (attitude creation needed, perception that for different ice-cream brands health foods are expensive, lack of trust in The attractiveness of probiotic ice- health claims) as well as issues inherited cream sub-category is established by comparison with standard ice-creams using the experiential marketing framework in Exhibit 2. Consumer involvement is higher in probiotic ice-creams and therefore variety seeking behaviour is lesser than that in standard ice-creams.

Cognitive element assumes importance in the light of Exhibit 3 Conflict reduction processes health benefits that increases consumer elaboration and involvement. from ice-cream industry (increasing health consciousness) are all explored.

Changing Values and the Growth of the Indian Wellness Industry Conflicting Attitudes The wellness industry is a sector of the In order to create a favourable attitude health care industry that focuses on towards probiotic ice creams there is a improving everyday health and state of need to resolve the following conflicting well being, rather than curing illness. beliefs: The wellness industry includes functional • The belief that ice-creams are unhealthy foods, alternative therapies, beauty, conflicts with the belief that probiotic icecounselling, fitness and slimming and cream is healthy rejuvenation.

• The belief that healthy products are The growth of the wellness industry not tasty conflicts with the belief that in India reflects the evolution of probiotic ice-cream is tasty consumer preferences and values of • The belief that bacteria are harmful well educated Indians with disposable conflicts with the belief that probiotic iceincomes. The values associated with cream contains bacteria the consumption of wellness products Conflict reduction processes (Crano et al, relate to health consciousness and being 1967)1 that will be used by consumers socially accepted/social recognition. The to resolve the above conflicting beliefs changing values are reflective of the when they encounter counter-norm increased awareness among consumers communication are as shown in Exhibit 3: about fitness and health. This changing Since the crafting of the message is value system bodes well for the growth of crucial, marketers examine how effective the probiotic ice-cream category. message can be crafted for Probiotic Ego-defensive motivation is the ice creams. Marketers find that the primary attitudinal motivation for the beliefs are psychologically inconsistent consumption of many of the wellness or imbalanced i.e. a valued element is products. Probiotics increase metabolism associatively linked to a non-valued and will therefore be less fattening. Thus element. For e.g. ice-cream (valued) is ego –defensive motivational consumption linked associatively to not healthy (not of probiotics will increase in future, valued). The modes of resolution of this mirroring the growth of other segments imbalance (Abelson, 1959)2 are used in of the wellness industry.

Exhibit 4 in order to craft an appropriate message.

Issues Issues that are unique to the new sub- Categorization Issue category (conflicting belief systems, Probiotic ice-cream shares features with categorisation) as well as the issues the category of Probiotic foods and

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Ice Cream the category of ice-creams therefore categorisation is an issue. The product is discrepant from ice-creams that are believed to be unhealthy; therefore, this is not just an addition of an attribute to the product category of ice-creams. Since the product is discrepant from the category a new niche sub-category will be created. The first category label that is provided will influence its categorisation.

Consumers’ expectations of a new product’s performance will be determined by the performance of products in the category into which the new product is categorised (Moreau et al, 2001)3. Consumer’s evaluation of the product will be influenced by her expectations and thereby determine the consumer’s attitude towards the product.

When the product is categorised as an ice-cream the performance expectations of the product and attitude will be based primarily on attributes like taste that are important to ice-creams.

Attitude Creation Needed Though the functional food industry is growing, consumer awareness of probiotic foods is low and therefore attitudes with regard to probiotic foods are yet to be created. Attitudes with regard to probiotic ice-cream will be even more challenging to create.

The Proposed Framework The conflict of attitudes arising out of the above belief can be resolved through differentiation by splitting healthy and non-healthy ice-creams. The perceived higher price of probiotic ice-creams can then be justified with the higher value associated with health foods.

Consumers’ Lack of Trust in Health Claims Probiotics not only develop healthy immune systems but also help prevent colon cancer and enhance brain activity.

However, it is not necessary that what is true is believed (Poffenberger, 1923)4.

The message must not conflict too sharply with the consumer’s experience. The claim that eating ice-cream will prevent colon cancer and activate the brain will

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be too startling to be believed. They will be rejected by consumers as exaggerated claims. It is sufficient to communicate that Probiotic bacteria build immunity.

Complicated and long health claims may also cause consumers to be more sceptical about the claims being made (Walker et al, 2009)5. As a result, it is important to keep the communication simple.

Categorisation Probiotic ice-creams should be categorised as a niche sub-category under ice-creams.

This category label is recommended as

Changing Consumer ValuesIncreasing Health Consciousness People value fitness and health and are increasingly adopting healthy lifestyles. This changing value poses a challenge to the icecream brands. Health consciousness will affect the probiotics ice-cream sub category notwithstanding the probiotics label.

Marketing Strategy As Probiotic ice-creams are functional foods whose consumption depends on healthy eating intentions, an attitudinal model that accurately predicts healthy eating intentions is needed to determine a strategy for the product. The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) accurately predicts the healthy eating intentions and behaviour (Corner et al, 2002)6. In TPB, the purchase and intention to buy a product is affected by three variables - attitude, subjective norms as well as perceived behavioural control (PBC). PBC is the perception of the extent to which performance of the behaviour is within one’s control or is easy–difficult.

Probiotic ice-creams are functional foods whose consumption depends on healthy eating intentions; an attitudinal model that accurately predicts healthy eating intentions is needed to determine a strategy for the product

Exhibit 4 Modes of resolution

the PBC of eating ice-creams is much more as opposed to Probiotic foods. Icecreams are viewed as an indulgence and therefore, the behaviour of consuming an ice-cream is easy and within one’s control.

Target segment The outcome beliefs of probiotic icecreams will be evaluated positively by health conscious consumers. Therefore the target segment for the product is the educated health conscious urban family. Probiotic ice creams should view the entire family as the target segment because subjective norms determine

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Ice Cream eating intention and normative beliefs are commonly the same within families.

Educated consumers are the target segment because their need for cognition (NC) is high. When exposed to a new product people with high need for cognition develop attitudes that exhibit greater persistence over time and greater resistance to change in comparison to those with lower NC (Petty et al, 1992)7. This is especially important in the light of the variety seeking behaviour followed by icecream consumers.

Positioning The product must be perceived as having high PBC and can therefore be positioned as offering hedonic benefits. This positioning as a wellness indulgence product will also ensure that there is affect-cognitive consistency which will aid the creation of a favourable attitude towards the product.

The wellness aspect will serve to bolster the health element of the product through association with the wellness industry that includes the fitness and the rejuvenation industry which is valued positively by our target segment.

Health conscious mothers should be sold on the proposition that children will willingly eat these wellness ice-creams and build immunity.

Product The product must not only be made available in family packs but also in smaller packs which will increase product trial which in turn will lead to favourable attitude creation, due to positive reinforcement.

Price and Place The product can be priced at a small premium as the conflict of attitudes arising out of this premium can be resolved

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through differentiation, by associating the premium with health benefits.

Therefore marketers not only need to ensure the creation of favourable attitude but also increase its strength. Attitudinal strength can be increased by increasing

Ice Cream

Probiotic ice-cream relates to the Rokeach terminal value Security (family, personal) as health consciousness is associated with Promotion this terminal value. Probiotic ice-cream As discussed earlier, also links to the terminal to resolve the conflict value of pleasure. These dilemmas marketers values are more likely have to use authoritative to significantly influence sources; therefore, attitudes when the a Word-of-Mouth relevant value is activated (WOM) campaign is and the link between the preferred route of the activated value and promotion as source attitude is activated as deprecation will not well (Dreezens et al, Exhibit 5 Experiential Marketing for take place. Given the 2008). Therefore, in Probiotic Ice-Creams wellness industry probiotic ice-cream’s associations of the communication, the product, employees of the slimming/ elaboration, by increasing antecedents link to family security can be activated fitness industry should be included to of elaboration (like self relevance) and by specifying how the product develops co-market the product. As this is a new by highlighting consequences. Therefore the immunity system and keeps the product concept, this direct marketing in order to ensure that probiotic ice- family safe from diseases. The link of the effort will also aid the creation of cream is taken into the consideration product to health consciousness will also favourable attitudes. Since these experts set, marketers need to increase attitude be activated in the process. are also referents, subjective norms will strength through wellness awareness influence intention to buy. It will also (elaboration) and highlighting health Conclusion aid the seeding of WOM campaigns benefits (consequences). Marketers also Probiotic ice-creams are attractive among their consumers who value health need to communicate to health conscious because they reduce variety seeking consciousness. Experiential marketing consumers that probiotics are self behaviour through higher involvement can be used to market probiotic ice-cream relevant, given their health consciousness. due to health benefits. They are also as shown in Exhibit 5: This self-relevance will result in greater attractive in the light of changing elaboration and consequently increase consumer values. Issues relating to the Communication attitudinal strength. Greater elaboration conflicting beliefs of the parent categories People strive to achieve equilibrium will also reduce variety seeking behaviour. as well as other issues can be resolved between maximizing pleasure and through appropriate message crating. minimizing harm. The cognitive strategy Attitude towards Brand Probiotic products must be positioned as people employ to reach this equilibrium Attitude towards brand is especially a wellness indulgence product to ensure is the activation of Compensatory Health important in the light of the variety high PBC. Product communication must Beliefs (CHBs). CHBs are beliefs that seeking behaviour followed by ice-cream leverage compensatory health beliefs the negative effects of an unhealthy consumers. Marketers should ensure that to position probiotic ice creams. Subbehaviour can be compensated for, by the sub-category is synonymous with category development must be facilitated engaging in another, healthy behaviour brand. Marketers should build strong by increasing attitude strength through (Rabiau, 2006)8. This cognitive strategy associations between the sub-category elaboration. Attitude towards brand must can be used to our advantage in the and brand name. Due to its categorisation, be developed in step with sub category message communication for probiotic probiotic ice-creams will be evaluated on development. The link to relevant values ice-creams as these ice-creams achieve the basis of taste. Thus, the use of a brand must be activated to influence consumer equilibrium between maximizing pleasure name with positive evaluations of taste attitude. and minimizing harm. The product can will help in resolving conflicting beliefs be promoted as an ideal compensatory regarding the taste of health foods.

Faculty Contributor : S. Ramesh Kumar, product between health and indulgence.

Professor Sub-Category Development Values In order to ensure that this sub-category Attitude towards probiotic ice-creams Student Contributors : Malsawmi does not fail, marketers need to ensure is influenced by the value of health Hrahsel, Shreya Manjunath and Rishov that it is taken into the ‘consideration consciousness.

Attitude strength Saikia (IIMB) set’. Attitude influences consideration and attitude centrality moderates the and choice. In addition it has been found relationship between values and attitudes that attitude strength will moderate the (Honkanen et al, 2004)10. Attitude influence of attitudes on consideration, in strength can be increased as discussed addition to choice (Priester et al, 2004)9. earlier.

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Ice Cream

Here’s How ICE CREAM Will Look like in the Future

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race yourself for edible shells and 3-D printing.

As the old saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? Well, we’re pretty sure that doesn’t apply to ice cream.

It’s already, by many accounts, the perfect food, so it certainly doesn’t need “fixing” per se, but we’re completely open to the idea that it could be made even better.

Here, a look at three current projects that are shaking up the ice cream world

— and potentially altering the future of everybody’s favorite frozen treat.

• Ice cream that’s been 3D printed When faced with an assignment to develop a new and innovative technology in 3D-printing, a group of MIT students decided to think a bit differently from their classmates.

“Everyone else was printing composites and resins and none of that was very

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tasty,” says Kyle Hounsell, now a recent MIT graduate, who teamed with fellow students to think of some edible options for the project. Eventually, he and fellow students Donghyun Kim and Kristine Bunker decided they’d try to 3D-print ice cream — and it ended up working.

The team took an ordinary off-the-shelf soft-serve ice cream machine and then attached it to a Solidoodle 3D printer.

“The technology is called fused deposition

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modeling,” Hounsell explains. “Basically what you do is you put down the first layer of whatever you’re doing, be it plastic or ice cream or chocolate. You extrude your first layer from this nozzle — it’s sort of like if you had a hot glue gun and you put it down on a table and made a ring, and by the time you got around to the start, you’d move the head up a little bit and go around again. And the first ring you printed has solidified, so it’s more structurally stable, but when you go back around, you extrude new stuff which melts to it and becomes part of it.”

That’s the process you’ll see in the video above. You might notice that the ice cream looks a bit runny, but that’s only because the team had to keep the machine’s door open to capture the video. To make sure the ice cream solidified, the students added a nozzle to sprays liquid nitrogen onto the freshly-printed layers.

The next step, Hounsell says, is to file a patent and figure out what the future of 3D printed ice cream could hold.

“Novelty would be a strong factor. I feel like you could just plop one of these down in a Target or something in a glasswalled freezer and sit there and watch,” he says. “Watching 3D printers work is mesmerizing. At least to me.”

• Ice cream that’s made to order with liquid nitrogen A boy observes Smitten Ice Cream’s Brrr machine in action.

Toni Gauthier / Toni Bird Photography In the heart of San Francisco sits Smitten Ice Cream, where every batch of ice cream is made to order, on the spot, using a hightech machine called Brrr. This apparatus, which took years to develop and patent, produces what Vogue called “arguably the freshest, if not the best, ice cream on earth.”

The key ingredient? Liquid nitrogen.

“The gist is that the faster you freeze ice cream, the smaller the ice crystals can be, and the smaller the ice crystals, the

smoother the texture,” Smitten founder Robyn Sue Fisher says. “To freeze really fast, you freeze really cold. So liquid nitrogen, being negative 321 degrees

Ice Cream difficult to get the right texture every time.

Plus, customers get to watch the machine in action as it churns their ice cream in a whirring, cloudy haze.

For now, Smitten has four locations around the Bay Area.

While Fisher doesn’t have plans to take over the world, if this ice cream is truly as delicious and fresh as it looks, you never know.

• Ice cream served inside an edible shell These golf ball-sized ice cream spheres are designed to be easy to eat, but they’ve also got an eco-friendly purpose: eliminating wasteful food packaging. They’re WikiPearl ice cream balls WikiFoods called WikiPearls and they were developed by Harvard biomedical engineering professor David Fahrenheit, really fits that bill.”

Making ice cream this way means you can Edwards, who was inspired by foods like produce smooth, dense, tasty ice cream grapes and coconuts that essentially come — and it also means you can cut out with built-in packaging. emulsifiers, preservatives and stabilizers, But of course, this is still ice cream we’re instead using fresh, local ingredients. talking about — so taste is a priority.

“The whole impetus of me starting the “For a new food form to be really company is just that I was getting kind successful, it has to be really good and of of grossed out by looking at the back give benefits that people are looking for in of ice cream cartons and realizing how food,” Edwards says. “So the packaging many ingredients were in the product that is a great thing but from a consumer point of view, it just needs to be really great.”

The edible skins are made of natural food particles that are bound together with nutritive ions to form a soft skin that keeps the ice cream inside cold for several hours. You can throw them inside a Thermos and carry them with you throughout the day, popping them into your mouth when you need a snack. (Portion control, anyone?)

For now, WikiPearls are sold at a little shop in Paris, but Edwards says they’ll soon be available I couldn’t even pronounce,” Fisher says. in the U.S. at Cafe ArtScience opening in Fisher admits that making ice cream September in Cambridge, Mass. Flavors with liquid nitrogen is nothing new — are fairly standard (mango ice cream but other ice cream shops tend to do this with coconut skin, chocolate ice cream with a basic kitchen mixer, and without with hazelnut skin) but Edwards says a carefully engineered machine, it’s some more eccentric flavors — like foie

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gras ice cream with an onion skin — are coming this fall.

Frozen yogurt in WikiPearl form exists too, if you’re into that sort of thing.

They’re a bit smaller — about the size of a grape — and can be found at a few

Whole Foods locations around New England. (As we all know, though, frozen yogurt is great, but it can’t really replace the true star of the show.)

While Edwards hopes that WikiPearls will one day be the new normal of ice

Ice Cream cream, he’s also got plans to expand this technology into other culinary realms.

He’s already created versions including cheese, fruits and vegetables — and while we’re not sure how receptive consumers will be to those, we do think the ice cream balls could be a hit.

New System Plast NG Evo introduces FDAfriendly dry conveying option for food packaging

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merson’s Power Transmission Solutions business introduces its new System Plast NG™ Evo conveyor chain at Pack Expo, featuring a proprietary, low-friction FDA-approved material for dry conveying in food packaging applications. “NG Evo builds on the success of original NG chain, which is widely used for dry conveying in the bottling industry,” said Jeff Himes, System Plast Senior Product Manager.

“The new chain provides a higher breaking load, greater elasticity, lower coefficient of friction and much greater

abrasion resistance than the original. NG Evo significantly expands options for dry conveying to meet sustainability and water conservation goals, which will grow in importance for food packaging as the U.S. already grapples with regional water shortages.”

“NG Evo improves on a material that is a proven success in dry conveying beverage applications,” added Himes. “All of the physical properties of the original NG chain have been enhanced to meet specific challenges in food processing applications. In addition, beverage handling conveyors are typically lubricated with soap and water that uses two to three times more water than goes into the finished product.

There are obvious costs for this, but the hidden cost for wet conveyor is in the slip hazard, pumps, leaks and premature failure of bearings, sensors and other conveyor components.”

System Plast NG Evo chain is an advanced, low-friction concept that caneliminate or greatly reduce wasteful water-and-soap lubrication typically used on food and beverage conveyors. It also reduces the costs and energy for water reclamation/treatment, and eliminates the wear paste buildup, noise pulsation and hygiene issues caused by mineral-oilbased dry lubricants.

NG Evo chain is made of a proprietary thermoplastic resin that is suitable for high-speed and dry-running applications,

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where it lowers power consumption and noise, and increases the belt’s wear life.

The companion Nolu®-S wear strips and guides enable reduced-lubrication or lubrication-free, high-speed conveyor operation. They are made of a unique resin with a solid lubricant that dramatically reduces the coefficient of friction. Nolu-S helps reduce noise, energy consumption, squeaking, and chain pull/belt fatigue.

The combination of NG Evo chain and Nolu-S wear strips can reduce a conveyor’s energy requirements by up to 30 percent, with service life as much as five times greater.

Plant engineers can determine their own potential conveyor cost savings using a new mobile app that calculates cost reductions from various choices of motors, drives and flat-top conveyor chains, as well as quick changeover guide rails and elimination of water/soap lubrication. The FREE mobile app can be obtained from the mobile app page at www.emerson-ept.com [1].

Emerson produces System Plast conveying chain and a variety of other drive components that reduce maintenance and water consumption in the food and beverage industry. These include products from SealMaster, Browning, Morse and McGill. To learn more, visit www.emerson-ept.com [2] or contact an Emerson application engineer.

A free mobile app available at the iTunes store, entitled “Power Transmission Solutions Product Library,” allows searches across multiple product lines and placing information on a personal bookshelf. Interactive page-flip versions of the catalogs can also be accessed at www.emersononlinecatalog.com.

Finding the right food packaging for your product is just as important as producing a great product.

How to Choose Food Packaging

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aking a great food product is important, but almost as equally important is the food packaging. Think about the roles that food packaging must fulfill: The right food packaging protects your food from contaminants and potential damage, makes the customer want to buy the product and clearly states the product’s ingredients and certifications for those with food allergies or dietary restrictions.

The following considerations are important to keep in mind when selecting the right food packaging options to ensure food safety and attractiveness to consumers.

Food Packaging Materials Before you do anything else, determine

which food packaging materials are ideal for your product. Evaluate the material’s barrier properties — that is, how it keeps out moisture and oxygen. A lack of oxygen slows the spoiling of many foods and maintains the flavor and crispness. For example, when packaging almonds, the air inside the bag is replaced with nitrogen, to prevent the almonds from going rancid. This is called “modified atmosphere packaging,” where the oxygen is removed and another gas is

used to fill the container or bag.

with being “natural” or “organic.”

Consider as well the biological protection that the food packaging offers: Does it keep the food from spoiling too soon? Is

Check where big brands fall on the color emotion guide. Depending on your product, your food packaging may need to include colors that indicate different flavors — yellow for lemon or banana, reddishpink for strawberry, purple for grape and so on.

it a sufficient barrier to pathogens, insects and rodents?

What do you want the physical properties of the food packaging to be? For example, do you want the consumer to easily open the package? Or do you want food packaging that doesn’t tear easily?

Does the food packaging need to protect the product from being crushed?

Design of Packaging Research published in the Canadian Journal of Public Health showed that children preferred decorative food packaging — and that the aesthetic appeal of the food packaging was more important than the brand. The study was specifically designed to challenge a 2007 study showing that children preferred McDonald’s food packaging.

Use this kind of psychology to pick a color scheme for your food packaging. If your food packaging materials are beige or feature muted colors, for example, people will likely associate the food

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What information do you want to include on the food packaging label? Do you want it to be full of facts and suggestions, or would you rather keep it minimalistic? Some food packaging benefits from including a recipe on it, especially if it’s a new product that not everyone knows how to use.

Food Packaging Production Make sure you’ve found a food packager you trust. What is the volume of product you need to run? How accessible is the processing plant by rail? Does the facility have the equipment needed to create food packaging for your specific products?

FDA Compliance If you’re a U.S.-based producer, don’t overlook compliance with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Your food packaging and its labeling must meet FDA standards and rules regulating nutrition information, ingredient listing and claims made on the food packaging, such as “gluten-free” or “organic.” Its guidelines explain the difference between health claims, nutrient content claims and structure/function claims, so review them before diving into a project.

About the author: Chris Bekermeier is the Vice President, Sales and Marketing, of PacMoore in Hammond, Indiana. PacMoore is one of the world’s leading commercial food packaging companies, processing dry ingredients for the food industry. Its capabilities include blending, spray drying, re-packaging, sifting and custom food packaging.

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Events

Indian Ice Cream Congress & Expo 2014 held in Mumbai with unprecedented success

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ndian Ice Cream Congress held in Mumbai with greatest ever participation and footfall. With 425 delegates, 48 stalls and 10000+ visitors IICE made history in Indian ice cream industry. IICE is a unique platform for Indian ice cream manufacturers and allied segments. During the conference a number international speaker made presentations.

Kirit Somaiya, Member of Parliament was the chief guest of the event. Somaiya said, “I still remember those days when we used to have only two brands, Kwality and Joy and there was only one ice cream factory in Worli in Mumbai. From those times to now India has changed and now we have hundreds of brands and flavours�.

Kirit Somaiya assured Indian Ice Cream Manufacturers for all support in

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developing the industry especially for the export development. Ice cream industry can repeat the IT industry business module, manufacturing in India and exporting to the rest of the world, said he.

Somaiya also mentioned that we also need to develop machinery industry for the processing and supply chain management of the Indian Ice cream industry. He said India is open for the foreign machinery

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manufacturers who are interested in establishing manufacturing units in India.

This will increase employment in India and ice cream industry can experience best technologies available locally.

Pardeep Chona Treasurer of Indian Ice Cream Manufacturers Association and CMD of Havmor Ice Creams informed during his inaugural speech that IICMA has decided to celebrate National Ice Cream day on every 2nd Sunday of April.

Association will also seek views from different quarters to promote a united ice cream brand in India to counter the myths about ice creams and for increasing the per capita consumption in the country which is way low in comparison with China and USA. Sudhir Shah, Secretary of IICMA informed the gathering during his thanks note that Indian Ice Cream Congress will be held in Bangalore next year during the same period. Shah also informed that Indian ice cream industry is moving the right direction and with the same pace we will soon be discussed in global circles.

Dinesh Waghmare, Managing Director MAIDC made presentation on “Maharashtra a destination for Ice Cream Manufacturers”. He mentioned that Maharashtra is sixth largest producer of milk in the country and one of the largest

I

processors and consumers of ice creams.

Being the largest producers of fruits in the country combination of fruits and ice cream can do wonders, especially the strawberry and mango.

B Thiagarajan, Executive Director, Bluestar Limited supported the IICMA’s view for a creating a united brand. He said Bluestar will always be on fore front in supporting such causes. G Chandrashekhar of Hindu Businessline newspaper made an eye opener presentation on Indian macro-economy and ice cream market prospects.

There were a number of informative presentations made by other speakers such as “Labeling and Packaging Regulations in India” by Girish Pai of Natural Ice Creams, “Ice-cream Global Market & Trends” Anurag Jain of Dupont, “Advances in Storage and Display Technique” Srikant Subramaniam of Blustar India, Updates on taxation (Service tax, Central Excise, GAST) for Ice Cream Industry by L Badri Narayanan of Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan Attorneys, Mumbai, “New Concepts for Cold Storage for Ice Cream Industry” Srinivas Reddy of Bluestar, “Price outlook for industrial chocolates in India 2014-15 P.Anantha Pai, of Soubhagaya Confectionery.

There were a number of foreign speakers

News who presented some global trends, “Future of Ice Cream production in India by Ejvin Lund of Tetrapak. “Latest Trends in Cone Making in European Market Hans Peter Trosse of Big Drum Engineering, “Indian Ice Cream Industry: Overview, Outlook and Opportunities”

by Janaki Padmanabhan of Euromonitor International.

Two days event catered almost everything Indian ice cream industry looks for. There were a number of stalls from different allied segments of the industry. Ice cream ingredients, raw material, processing and packaging machinery, cones and cup manufacturer and cold chain companies, all participated in the expo.

Firoz H Naqvi, Organiser of the event informed that next year this event will be of double size and the response was better than expected. “We are expecting 200 exhibitors next year in Bangalore, he added.

Naqvi also informed this event also had an entertainment night with mix of national and international talent followed by gala dinner. This entertainment night has a great craze among the ice cream manufacturers and allied segments because it gives them an opportunity to interact with the people from far places.

PM to launch mega PPP food park in Karnataka and 17 more on the way

n an effort to implement the ‘farm-to-fork’ model through modern retail, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a mega food park in Tumkur, Karnataka. The park is being promoted under publicprivate partnership by Future Retail in association with Capital Foods and Sattva Developers.

Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said that Future Group has over 4,000 retail shops under the brand name of Big Bazaar. Through this retail chain, the park will help industry act as a bridge between farmers and consumers.

This park is also an example of providing

linkage between farmers and retail chain without depending upon foreign investment in multi-brand retail.

Though FDI in retail, especially for perishable items such as fruits and vegetables, would be helpful in creating cold storage and infrastructure besides modern retail, Badal said the policy would be a Cabinet decision and no single Ministry could change that. However, Indian industry was allowed to set up modern retail chains and mega food parks would help them further, she added.

Addressing a press conference to list the achievements of her Ministry during the first 100 days of the Government, Badal said that the approval for setting up 17 mega food parks would be given in the next few months which is expected to

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fetch an investment of over 2,100 crore.

The scheme is based on a cluster approach and a ‘hub and spoke’ model. It aims at facilitating the establishment of a strong food processing industry backed by an efficient supply chain, which includes collection centres, central processing centre and cold chain infrastructure.

Based on a policy formulated in 2008, the Government has so far sanctioned 42 projects, of which 25 are under implementation. Projects in Haridwar (Uttrakhand) and Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh) have already become operational, while Fazilka (Punjab), Jangipur (West Bengal) and Khargone (Madhya Pradesh) will be completed by the year end. The Ministry is now planning to come out with a new policy.

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Packing News

Rapid changes in consumer shopping behaviors speed up demands for smarter packaging solutions

S

tora Enso, the global rethinker of the paper, biomaterials, wood products and packaging industry, today releases a new report, Viewpoint.

It is revealing industry insights regarding future demands for innovative packaging solutions within grocery retail businesses.

The Viewpoint “Retail Packaging 2016 and beyond”, is the third edition in Stora Enso Packaging Solutions in-depth Viewpoint report series. The report covers the retail industry’s rapid changes and how this affects the future demands of packaging solutions.

The report reveals case studies with findings showing how retailers can reduce costs between 50 to 70 percent by using smart packaging solutions. The report also covers the key levers on how to stand out

in a market with a predicted increase of private-label goods penetration reaching 50 percent within ten years.

“When 70 percent of consumers’ grocery retail purchase decisions are made at the point of sales, and the retail market is in strong competition, we know that packaging plays a significant role contributing to increased sales and reduced cost throughout the valuechain”,says Hannu Alalauri, Packaging Solutions Senior Vice President at Stora Enso.

The five themes influencing future grocery retail packaging presented in the report are: • The success of discount retailers • Increased private-label penetration • Intelligence in packaging solutions

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• The shift of retail to online channels • A greater focus on sustainability “The retailers that can best understand and execute on the full potential of packaging solutions will be best placed to win in the marketplace of today and tomorrow. With the Viewpoints we are proud to continue to share insights regarding the future of innovative packaging and are happy to invite our customers to a further dialogue”, says Hannu Alalauri, Packaging Solutions Senior Vice President at Stora Enso.

Hannu Alalauri will speak at the World Retail Congress in Paris September 30th about the Future of Retail Packaging 2016 and beyond.

TÜV South technical inspectorate awards Kronesan IT security certificate

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AtKrones,clients’ data are in verifiably safe hands, and the group’s own knowhow is also protected by an information security management system (ISMS), which has recently been validated by the TÜV South technical inspectorate. On 2 September,Prof.Dr. Peter Schaff, CEO MS Division TÜV South, handed over the relevant certificate of conformity with ISO/IEC 27001, the globally recognised standard for information security management, to the Executive Board Chairman of Krones AG, Volker Kronseder.

Dr. Thomas Nowey, Head of IM Information Security, explains the perceived importance of this accolade: “This certification is important for us. Inquiries from prominent clients regarding the firm’s security concept are becoming ever more frequent at Krones as well. Now we’ve been certified to an international standard, with our system’s quality having been officially confirmed for us and our clients.”Noweyhimself had seen his professional expertise validated back in 2011, when he won the 1st German Championshipin the IT security category, organised by Hanover University of Applied Science and an IT trade periodical.

Information security management is a broadly diversified field: it ranges from raising staff and vendor awareness levels and protecting access to the company’s premises and its sensitive areas, all the way through to complex IT security architectures for protecting data.

Following various preliminary audits in 2013,TÜV South tested Krones’ security concepts in a Stage-One audit at the end of March 2014. This was followed two months later by the certification audit, in which TÜV South’s experts verified in Neutraubling, Freising and Rosenheim how well these concepts are being translated into procedural reality.

Kronesmet all the requirements laid down in ISO/IEC 27001.

“We congratulate everyone involved at Krones AG on this successful certification”, said Christian Erichsen,

Department HeadCustomer Competence Centerat the technical inspectorate

TÜV SÜD Management Service GmbH. “Successful operation of the information security management system in conformity with ISO/IEC 27001 bears witness to the company’s up-to-the-future focus. To guard against the security risks of today’s IT scene, you need a systematic, structured approach, one that protects confidential data, assures the integrity of company data, and increases the availability of the IT systems concerned.”

The new millennium’s value creation network is forcing many companies to perform a balancing act between opening up to the outside world and protecting their own intellectual property. On the one hand,enhanced, faster and more direct interchange of information enables them to offer a better service to their customers, and to progress networking with outside service providers and vendors in order to optimise the processes involved; on the other hand, this entails offering larger targets for attackers, with a concomitant necessity to identify, locate and protect potential new weak points.

“Industrialespionage is becoming progressively more professional. Criminal hackers are organising themselves into veritable bands”, reports Nowey.But assistance from outside is rising too, he continues, government agencies like the German Federal Office for Information Securityor the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution have been sending precautionary warnings as soon as they had become cognisant of cyber-

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Packing News attacks on German corporations.“We then get information on the attack patterns concerned, trawl through our systems for them, and create appropriate defensive strategies before we are attacked.”

Besides the technical component, though, data security nowadays, “thanks” to the rapid pace of technological change towards the networked individual, has primarily a personal component as well.

“When our staff in any hotel of the world link up with the internet, with social networks or with a client’s system, they have to know how to deal with sensitive data”, emphasises Nowey.

Central monitoring, he adds, is necessary but solely central control has long since become impossible, particularly for a globally operating corporation like Krones. “Twenty years ago, you could shut yourself off from the outside world in a digital fortress. With thousands of networked staff, however, our company meanwhile resembles not so much a castle with a moat and a drawbridge, but more of a metropolis with innumerable entries and data routes.” Information security therefore lies in the responsibility of all staff.AtKrones, innovative idea also help to raise staff’s awareness levels, like the “Data Devil” comics or presentations with live hacking shows.

New challenges are waiting Nowadays, almost no business process is possible without the support of information technology. Office IT and production IT are becoming increasingly convergent, also between manufacturers and customers. “Initial approaches for developing Industry 4.0, such as creating harmonised platforms for aglobal remote service or more comprehensive backups of operating data and consumption figuresfrom clients’ lines for purposes of predictive maintenance are meanwhile discernible. Kronesis already making the requisite preparations for keeping pace with these new challenges, not least in regard to protecting sensitive data”, promisesNowey. And this promise extends way beyond the ISO/IEC-27001 certification.

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News

Scrutiny of High-import farm produce “To check import of vegetable oils, we should increase domestic production of oilseeds.

At 1,000-1,100 kg per hectare (ha), oilseeds production is half of the global average. Since India’s strength lies in soybean and cotton seed, their production should be increased at least by 50 per cent in the next five years,” said Vijay Data, president of SEA.

T

he ministry of commerce has identified nine agricultural commodities whose annual import is more than $100 million each for action which is faced with a growing trade shortage due to rising import.

It has written to the respective sector councils and associations, seeking ways to reduce such imports. The nine commodities are vegetable oils, pulses, fresh fruits, cashew, sugar, alcoholic beverages, processed items, cocoa products and sesame seeds.

One such letter, addressed to the chairman of the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) and industry bodies such as the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) and Indian OilseedsProduce and Export Promotion Council, reads: “There is a directive from the Prime Minister’s Office on institutionalising import appraisal and reducing import

dependence. Department of commerce is required to prepare a policy paper containing strategy, goal, road map and outcome for reducing (such) unwarranted dependence. It has been decided that import items of a value more than $100 mn may be analysed in the first instance.”

Edible oil leads the agri commodities’ import basket with a 60 per cent share.

Pulses (15 per cent), fresh fruits (10 per cent), cashew (six per cent) and sugar (three per cent) also contribute.

India’s annual consumption of edible oil is estimated at 19.5 mn tonnes, of which around 60 per cent is met through import, largely from Indonesia and Malaysia.

The dependence on imported pulses is 18 per cent of the total 20 mt of annual consumption. The import bill for edible oil was $7,250 mn in 2013-14 ($9,851 mn in 2012-13). Pulses worth $1,828 mn was imported in 2013-14, compared with $2,450 mn the previous year.

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It also recommends introduction of genetically modified oilseeds for cultivation.

India is also a major importer of fresh fruits and juices to the tune of $1,273 mn (in 2013-14, versus $1,138 mn the previous year).

“The only way to contain import is to increase domestic production. Apart from focus on increasing productivity, we need to concentrate on reducing postharvest loss and to increase cold storage capacity. Attempts made in the last two Plan periods have resulted in an increase in pulses production by three mt to 17 mt (yearly) now. That efforts need to be continued to make India self reliant in pulses in the next five-six years,” said Santosh Sarangi, chairman of Apeda.

For this, we needs to invest immensely on research and development. According to Bimal Kothari, vice-president of India Pulses and Grains Association, our average yeild of pulses is one of the lowest in the world.

Abinash Verma, director-general of India Sugar Mills Association, wants import duties raised to stop a supply glut.

Indian Ice Cream Manufacturers Association (IICMA)

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