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Assam CM for CFTRI branches A
ssam chief minister Tarun Gogoi inspected various technologies being developed by the Central Food Technological
Research Institute (CFTRI). Speaking to mediapersons at the institute, he said there is a need for lot of branches similar to the institute,
which should be opened across the country. He expressed concern over the slow progress made in food processing and value addition despite massive agricultural produce in the country. Compared to countries such as Thailand and Singapore, who utilise 80 per cent of their agricultural produce in the food processing industry, India is processing only 20 per cent of its produce. Gogoi said there is a need for improvisation of such processing units. He mentioned that youths from his
state were frequently visiting the institute for training in food processing. Gogoi was on his third visit to the city. Earlier, he had visited during his tenure as agriculture minister of Assam and later as Union minister of state for food processing industry. Earlier, CFTRI director G Venkateshwara Rao explained the technology, which is used by Amul to convert milk into skimmed milk powder. Rao showcased the technology for ready-to-eat products being offered by CFTRI.
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Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables They're Essential to a Healthy Diet by Dr. Carl L. Keen
L
ast month the United States Department of Agriculture released its Pesticide Data Program Annual Summary which reports pesticide residues on fruits, vegetables and other foods commonly consumed in the United States. This was the 20th time this report has been published and it, in part, represents the transparency the USDA has with respect to food safety. The report provides detailed information on the types and amounts of pesticide residues found on foods sold in the U.S. marketplace. Consistent with previous years, when found, the levels of pesticide reported are extremely low among three government agencies -USDA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration -- all of whom advise consumers that the regular consumption of fruits and vegetables containing the amounts of pesticide residues reported is not thought to represent any safety risks. This USDA report and the accompanying press release received scant media attention. Typically, stories with good news about the safety of our food supply get minimal coverage. Regrettably, there is a high probability that this pesticide residue report will be misrepresented by some, and consumers will be advised to shy away from certain fruits and vegetables due to allegations about "high" levels of pesticide residues. Unfortunately, this type of advice has garnered much media attention in the past. Recent consumer research shows that warnings about the alleged dangers of pesticides may result in reductions in the overall intake of fruits and vegetables. While some could argue that providing information to consumers about pesticide residues simply fuels an increased shift from the consumption of conventionally grown crops to those grown organically, this ignores the issue that organically grown crops are typically more expensive, and higher produce costs could present a significant challenge to many in our society. While such a challenge might be reasonable if there were well documented scientific data that supported the contention that there are different health benefits of conventionally grown versus organically grown foods, at present this is not the case. What people should be doing is eating more fruits and vegetables of all kinds
provide people with the full story on complex food safety topics. I urge consumers and the media to seek out information from universities, public health agencies and other independent resources whenever there is a new report on food safety. It's crucial that all of us do whatever we can to help people understand how important it is that they consume diets rich in fruits and vegetables, and that such diets are not avoided due to inappropriate concerns over their safety. Dr. Carl L. Keen is the Mars Chair in Developmental Nutrition, Professor of Nutrition & Internal Medicine, and a Nutritionist in the Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of California at Davis.
-- whether they are conventional or organic. Sadly, statistics show this is just not happening. Rather, research shows that consumers are eating fewer fruits and vegetables and only a small fraction of the population is meeting USDA dietary guidelines to make half of what we eat fruits and vegetables. Admittedly, there are many reasons for this including cost, availability and the fact that some people just don't like them. But one thing is certain: Fear should not be a reason to avoid these healthy products. Each time a new report is issued or emerging science appears claiming that pesticide on foods are linked to a specific health issue, media coverage is abundant. While we clearly need studies that are aimed at improving our knowledge of the potential health benefits and risks of the produce we consume, what often gets left out of the media coverage is that the findings are often preliminary in nature. And they may even conflict with other studies reporting increased fruit and vegetable consumption results in lower rates of these same maladies. At present, the simple fact remains that thousands of research projects conducted over several decades suggest that the healthiest people are those who consume plant food rich diets. Ideally, this is what the media should be reporting. Of course consumers have the clear right to know about what goes into their food. But the media and health educators have a responsibility to
Beverages FoodProcessing Processing TimesJune-I-2012 Beverages &&Food TimesNovember -I-2011
In India, people go starving while grain stock piles up
I
n this north Indian village, workers recently dismantled stacks of burned and mildewed rice while flies swarmed nearby over spoiled wheat. Locals said that the rice crop had been sitting along the side of a highway for several years and was now being sent to a distillery to be turned into liquor. Just 180 miles to the south, in a slum on the outskirts of New Delhi, Leela Devi struggled to feed her family of four on meager portions of flatbread and potatoes, which she said was all she could afford on her disability pension and the irregular wages of her daylaborer husband. Her family is among the estimated 250 million Indians who do not get enough to eat. Such is the paradox of plenty in India's food system. Spurred by agricultural innovation and generous farm subsidies, India now grows so much food that it has a bigger grain stockpile than any country except China, and exports some of it to countries like Saudi Arabia and Australia. Yet onefifth of its people are malnourished - double the rate of other developing countries like Vietnam and China - because of pervasive corruption, mismanagement and waste in the programmes that are supposed to distribute food to the poor. "The reason we are facing this problem is our refusal to distribute the grain that we buy from farmers to the people who need it," said Biraj Patnaik, a lawyer who advises the Supreme Court on food issues. "The only place that this grain deserves to
be is in the stomachs of the people who are hungry." After years of neglect, the nation's failed food policies have now become a subject of intense debate in New Delhi, with lawmakers , advocates for the poor, economists and the news media increasingly calling for an overhaul.
The central government is considering legislation that would pour billions of additional dollars into the system and double the number of people served to twothirds of the population. The proposed law would also allow the poor to buy more rice and wheat at lower prices. Proponents say that the new law, if written and executed well, could help ensure that nobody goes hungry in the world's secondmost populous country. But critics say that without fundamental reforms, the extra money will only deepen the nation's budget deficit and further enrich the officials who routinely steal food from various levels of the distribution chain. The government's food policy has two central goals: to provide farmers higher and more consistent prices for their crops than they would get from the open market, and to sell food grains to the poor at lower prices than they would pay at private stores.
50,000 tonnes of food grains go missing from UP godowns
D
espite CBI probe, more than 50,000 tonnes of wheat and rice have gone missing from a warehouse in Allahabad. Officials say they are eaten by rats. Really? Over 50,000 metric tonnes of food grains , including 37,000 tonnes of wheat and 13,000 tonnes of rice, have gone missing from a warehouse of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) in Allahabad. The FCI registered a case against 11 officials, including M S Faruqui, in-charge of the warehouse. When asked to explain the shortage of food grains worth more than Rs 3 crore, warehouse officials said that it was eaten by rats. But during an investigation it was found that they had sold it in the open market. The foodgrain was meant for the public distribution system. This has happened when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has
expedited its inquiry into the alleged Rs 35,000 crore foodgrain scam, which took place in Uttar Pradesh between 2004 and 2008. The CBI had recently arrested a member of the All-India Congress Committee in connection with this scam.
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Malaysia mulls barter with India
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alaysia is exploring options for wheat and rice imports from India against export of palm oil under a barter deal, Malaysia's Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Bernard Dompok hinted on the sidelines of the Malaysia-India Palm Oil Trade Fair & Seminar, 2012. Dompok said his ministry saw immense opportunity for such a deal, which he would discuss with his cabinet colleague in charge of foodgrain. “I am not in charge of foodgrain, but would certainly put forth this proposal to the ministry there. I, however, see a great opportunity for such a deal,” he said. India, which meets 55 per cent of its vegetable oil requirements through imports, procured 1.82 million tonnes of palm oil products worth $1.96 billion in 2011 from Malaysia. Malaysia is the second largest supplier of palm oil to India, mostly in the form of refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD) palmolein. In turn, Malaysia imports 30 per cent of its annual rice consumption of 2.5 million tonnes from various countries. In the absence of local wheat production, it remained dependent on imports to meet the country's demand for 1.5 million tonnes (mt) of wheat.India's contribution to Malaysia's total wheat and rice supplies remains negligible, despite a glut in stocks of the two major staple foodgrain in India. Faced with major storage problems, resulting in spoilage, food minister K V Thomas had early this week urged his Malaysian counterpart to lift more wheat and rice from India against exports of palm
oil under the barter deal. Such a deal would make sense for both countries, said an analyst, especially for India, which is struggling to manage its burgeoning foodgrain stocks due to lack of adequate storage facility. Also, the risk of rupee fluctuation would be mitigated. For Malaysia too, India would be an assured supplier of wheat and rice. Globally, the prices of crude palm oil have declined 14 per cent. But the eight per cent fall in the value of the rupee over the past two months, deprived the Indian players from benefitting from this fall in prices. The value of bilateral trade between India and Malaysia reached a new high of $12.5 billion in 2011 and is forecast to rise to $15 billion this year. Malaysia's imports from India are large and diversified. These include meat and meat preparations, sugar, rice, wheat, fruits and primary and semi-finished products, such as iron, fabrics, machinery and instruments. India, on the other hand, imports crude petroleum and petroleum products, palm oil products, electrical and electronic goods, wood products and chemical products from Malaysia. Malaysia's foodgrain consumption has recorded steady growth over the last five decades. From 1.6 mt in 1960, Malaysia consumed seven mt in 2011. There is some fluctuation in Malaysia's per capita grain consumption, though. In 1971, Malaysians consumed about 178 kg of grains per person per year, which increased to 247 kg in 2011. Currently, the world average consumption of foodgrain stands at 326 kg.
MP set to topple Haryana as No. 2 in wheat procurement
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adhya Pradesh, one of the BIMARU states, has inched closer to displace Haryana from the second spot in wheat procurement. The state's performance, in fact, has boosted the procurement in the country that is looking to enact a food security law soon. At the end of May, wheat procurement across the country stood at 34.27 million tonnes, up by over 20 per cent from previous year's 28.39 million tonnes. “We have procured about 8.45 million tonnes of wheat so far. Procurement is still going on at some places like Satna. So, we have almost equalled Haryana in the procurement of wheat this year and most likely will displace it from second position next year,” Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told. The procurement level this year is more than double the level achieved two years ago in 2010-11 when the state procured about 3.54 million tonnes. Punjab remains unchallenged as number one in wheat arrivals (12.87 million tonnes) and wheat procurement (12.77 million tonnes) like every year. With about 8.65 million tonnes of wheat procurement this season, Congress-ruled Haryana, however, is still marginally ahead of BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh. But market
arrivals of wheat suggest that Madhya Pradesh has already beaten Haryana in terms of surplus wheat stock available for procurement. According to the latest statistics available with the FCI, the wheat arrivals in mandis across Madhya Pradesh so far has been 9.12 million tonnes as against 8.65 million tonnes (almost all being procured) in Haryana. In fact, the FCI figures of endMay suggest daily wheat arrivals in mandis across Haryana at about 10,000 tonnes daily, while the arrivals in mandis across Madhya Pradesh was still over 1,00,000 tonnes which if continued could easily break past procurement in Haryana this year itself. With about 70 per cent growth in wheat procurement over last season, Madhya Pradesh is fast catching up with Haryana which lagged behind with under 25 per cent growth over last year. (See BOX) Madhya Pradesh has contributed about 60 per cent alone in the total jump of about six million tonnes of wheat procurement in the country this year over the previous season. No wonder, the gunny bags became short in the state, an issue which was raised in Parliament during the recently concluded budget session.
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Coca-Cola India tells trade partners to push Coke ahead of other drinks
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everage maker Coca-Cola India has told its bottling and trade partners to push Coke ahead of other brands in its portfolio, two officials with knowledge of the development told. The idea is to push volumes of the American brand that has traditionally lagged behind its own brand Thums Up. "This is the first time the company has told its partners to specifically intensify focus on brand Coke, though targets are set routinely every year for all brands," one of the officials said. Coca-Cola's move is part of the US firm's long-term plan-internally called 'vision 2020'-to promote brand Coke across markets. "Our 2020 vision outlines our portfolio priorities as creating the world's most valuable portfolio of beverages and
A top beverage industry official clarified that the company's move to focus on Coke brand is to take on global rival Pepsi and not Thums Up. "We want Thums Up and Coca-Cola to be the top two cola brands in the country," the person said. Currently Coca-Cola is in third place behind Pepsi. But PepsiCo had responded to the Coca-Cola price cut by dropping prices of 200-ml bottles of brand Pepsi to Rs 8 soon after Coke's move. Coca-Cola has been taking a number of initiatives to grow Coke brand in India, which is now one of the company's top 10 markets in volume. Last month, for the first time, CocaCola split its ad account between two of the country's best-known creative agencies-Prasoon Joshi-headed McCann Erickson and R Balki-led
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Choose water over fizzy drinks, cut diabetes risk
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omen who choose plain water over sweet fizzy drinks or fruit juice have a lower risk of developing diabetes, a new study has revealed. According to researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, replacing sweet drinks with water could help stave off the metabolic disorder, but adding water to the sugary beverages a person consumes throughout the day won't make a difference. The results are based on the drinking habits of 83,000 women followed for more than a decade. Lead researcher Frank Hu said it is well established that sugary beverages are bad for people running a diabetes risk. "People have recommended drinking plain water instead of sugar-sweetened beverages", he said, "and the question is whether this kind of substitution has any impact on diabetes". Hu and his team collected data from the massive Nurses Health Study, which tracked the health and lifestyle of tens of thousands of women across the U.S. The study included 82,902 women who answered questions about their diet and health over a 12-year span. Over time, about 2,700 of them developed diabetes. The amount of water women drank did not seem to influence their diabetes risk - those who drank more than six cups a day had the same risk as women who drank less than one cup a day. However, sugar-sweetened drinks and fruit juice were tied to a higher risk of
diabetes - about 10 per cent higher for each cup consumed each day. The research team estimated that if women replaced one cup of fizzy drink or fruit juice with one cup of plain water, their diabetes risk would fall by 7 or 8 per cent. While it is not a huge reduction in the risk, "because diabetes is so prevalent in our society, even 7 or 8 per cent reduction in diabetes risk is quite substantial in terms of the population," Hu said. About 10 per cent of women, or 12.6 million, have diabetes in the U.S. A 7 per cent reduction would mean that instead of ten out of every 100 women having diabetes, the number would be closer to nine out of every 100. The study also found that unsweetened coffee or tea might be a good alternative to sugary beverages. The researchers estimated that replacing one cup of a carbonated drink or fruit juice with one cup of coffee or tea could reduce the risk of developing diabetes by 12 to 17 per cent. Hu said that the study is important in pointing out that fruit juice is not an optimal substitute for soda or other sugar-sweetened drinks."The reality is those juices contain the same amount of calories and sugar as soft drinks," he was quoted as saying. The bottom line, he said, is that plain water is one of the best calorie-free choices for drinks, and "if the water is too plain, you can add a squeeze of lemon or lime". The study has been published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
8-glasses-of-water-a-day myth busted
winning with trademark Coca-Cola," a Coca-Cola India spokesman said in response to ET's query. "In India, as across the world, we have outlined our focus on growing the Coca-Cola franchise," he said. In February, just ahead of the peak summer season, the beverage firm had dropped prices of Coke's 200 ml returnable glass bottles to Rs 8 in select markets to push volumes. All other fizzy drinks in its portfolio, including India's top-selling cola brand Thums Up, continue to be priced at Rs 10 for a 200 ml bottle. "India, along with other key emerging markets, is under big pressure to deliver on brand Coke," a company official said. "The firm is going all out to push the brand," the person said. The aerated drinks market in the country is estimated at Rs 11,000 crore, and Thums Up leads the category with a share of close to 15%, according to data by market researcher Nielsen.
Lowe Lintas-to strengthen the brand in the country. It also brought Weiden + Kennedy on the brand Coke account. While announcing the January-March quarter results last month, the Atlantabased firm mentioned only brand Coke's volumes, which it said grew by 27% in India. The company had announced that its sparkling beverages grew by 19% during the quarter in India, and that growth was led by brand Coca-Cola. Both American cola brands Coke and rival Pepsi have been unable to shake off the dominance of homegrown beverage brand Thums Up. Introduced in 1977 by Ramesh Chauhan, Thums Up was bought by Coca-Cola along with lime-flavoured lemon drink Limca, orange drink Gold Spot and mango-based Maaza in 1993 when the American giant re-entered India. Coca-Cola acquired Chauhan's beverage portfolio for $60 million (less than Rs 200 crore then).
T
he common belief that people should drink eight glasses or two litres of water a day is a 'myth' that needs debunking, a Melbourne academic says. The new Australian recommendations suggest that an adequate daily fluid intake is about 2.8 litres for women and 3.4 litres for men. However, this includes fluid found in food and beverages. La Trobe University lecturer Spero Tsindos said that people could get their daily fluid intake from fruit, vegetables, juices and even tea and coffee. "If you're feeling thirsty then drink by all means a beverage. It doesn't have to be water", Tsindos was quoted as writing in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health. "I'm not saying you shouldn't drink water. I'm saying the need to drink two litres of water on a regular basis is a complete myth." "We should be telling people that
beverages like tea and coffee contribute to a person's fluid needs and despite their caffeine content, do not lead to dehydration", Tsindos said. He said that drinking a large quantity of water in one sitting to reach the daily intake level was pointless because it would not be distributed where it was needed. It would just dilute the urine. Drinking large amounts of water to lose weight would not work either without a low-calorie diet, he emphasised. "There is further evidence that water and a well-balanced diet do far more than water alone", Tsindos wrote. "Water is important for health, however, the recommendation of eight glasses of pure water a day appears an overestimation of requirements", he said.The "eight glasses a day" notion may have stemmed from guidelines published in the US in 1945, Tsindos wrote.The National Academy of Sciences had recommended that about 2.5 litres of water should be consumed daily.
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A failed food system: India's grain piles up, yet the poor go hungry I
n this north Indian village, workers recently dismantled stacks of burned and mildewed rice while flies swarmed nearby over spoiled wheat. Local residents said the rice crop had been sitting along the side of a highway for several years and was now being sent to a distillery to be turned into liquor. Just 180 miles to the south, in a slum on the outskirts of New Delhi, Leela Devi struggled to feed her family of four on meagre portions of flatbread and potatoes, which she said were all she could afford on her disability pension and the irregular wages of her day-labourer husband. Her family is among the estimated 250 million Indians who do not get enough to eat. Such is the paradox of plenty in India's food system. Spurred by agricultural innovation and generous farm subsidies, India now grows so much food that it has a bigger grain stockpile than any country except China, and it exports some of it to countries like Saudi Arabia and Australia. Yet one-fifth of its people are malnourished - double the rate of other developing countries like Vietnam and China - because of pervasive corruption, mismanagement and waste in the programs that are supposed to distribute food to the poor. "The reason we are facing this problem is our refusal to distribute the grain that we buy from farmers to the people who need it," said Biraj Patniak, a lawyer who advises India's Supreme Court on food issues. "The only place that this grain deserves to be is in the stomachs of the people who are hungry." After years of neglect, the nation's failed food policies have now become a subject of intense debate in New Delhi, with lawmakers, advocates for the poor, economists and the news media increasingly calling for an overhaul. The populist national government is considering legislation that would pour billions of additional dollars into the system and double the number of people served to two-thirds of the population. The proposed law would also allow the poor to buy more rice and wheat at lower prices. Proponents say the new law, if written and executed well, could help ensure that nobody goes hungry in India, the world's second-most populous country behind China. But critics say that without fundamental system reforms, the extra money will only deepen the nation's budget deficit and further enrich the officials who routinely steal food from various levels of the distribution chain. India's food policy has two central goals: to provide farmers with higher and more consistent prices for their crops than they would get from the open market, and to sell food grains to the poor at lower prices than they would pay at private stores. The federal government buys grain and stores it. Each state can take a certain
amount of grain from these stocks based on how many of its residents are poor. The states deliver the grain to subsidized shops and decide which families get the ration cards that allow them to buy cheap wheat and rice there. The sprawling system costs the government 750 billion rupees ($13.6 billion) a year, almost 1 per cent of India's gross domestic product. Yet 21 per cent of the country's 1.2 billion people remain undernourished, a proportion that has changed little in the last two decades despite an almost 50 per cent increase in food production, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute, a research group in Washington. The new food security law could more than double the government's outlays to 2 trillion rupees a year, according to some estimates. Much of the extra money would go to buy more grain, even though the government already has a tremendous stockpile of wheat and rice - 71 million tons as of early May, up 20 per cent from a year earlier. "India is paying the price of an unexpected success - our production of rice and wheat has surged and procurement has been better than ever," said Kaushik Basu, the chief economic adviser to India's Finance Ministry and a professor at Cornell University. "This success is showing up some of the gaps in our policy." The biggest gap is the inefficient, corrupt system used to get the food to those who need it. Just 41.4 per cent of the grain picked up by the states from federal warehouses reaches Indian homes, according to a recent World Bank study. Critics say officials all along the chain, from warehouse managers to shopkeepers, steal food and sell it to traders, pocketing tidy, illicit profits. Poor Indians who have ration cards often complain about both the quality and quantity of grain available at government stores, called fair price shops. Other families do not even have ration cards because of the procedures - and often, bribes - required to get them. Some are denied because they cannot document their residence or income. And critics say more people would qualify if the income cutoff were raised; in New Delhi, it is 2,000 rupees ($36) a month, regardless of family size, a sum that many poor families spend on rent alone. Ms. Devi, who lives in the Jagdamba Camp slum in south Delhi, said she was denied a ration card four years ago. She said her family's steadiest income is a disability pension of 1,000 rupees a month she gets because of burns suffered in an accident a few years ago. While her husband sometimes earns up to 3,000 rupees a month as a labourer, she says she should be entitled to subsidized grain since they must often get by on 2,000 rupees or less. "Sometimes, we just have to sit and wait,"
she said. "My mother-in-law gets subsidized food and she gives me some when she can." Indian officials say they are addressing the system's problems. Some states, like Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh, have made big improvements by using technology to track food and have made it easier for almost all households to get ration cards. Other states, like Bihar, have experimented with food stamps. Reformers argue that India should move toward giving the poor cash or food stamps as the United States, Mexico and other countries have done. That would reduce corruption and mismanagement because the government would buy and store only enough grain to insure against bad harvests. And the poor would get more choices, said Ashok Gulati, chairman of the government's Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices. "Why only wheat and rice? If he wants to have eggs, or fruits, or some vegetables, he should be given that option," Mr.
Gulati said. "You need to augment his income. Then, the distribution, you leave it to the private sector." But most officials say they are worried that if India switched to food stamps, men would trade them for liquor or tobacco, depriving their families of enough to eat. "It has to improve, I have no doubt about it," said K. V. Thomas, India's minister for food, consumer affairs and public distribution. "But this is the only system that can work in our country." Officials say Parliament is likely to vote on a new food policy at the end of the year. In the meantime, the government is working on temporary solutions to its grain storage problems, putting up new silos and exporting more rice. Still, much of it is likely to keep sitting on the side of the road here in Punjab. "It's painful to watch," said Gurdeep Singh, a farmer from near Ranwan who recently sold his wheat harvest to the government. "The government is big and powerful. It should be able to put up a shed to store this crop."
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Coke executive answers questions about sugary drinks
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ntil now, beverage giant Coca-Cola hasn't put a face to its staunch opposition to last week's proposal by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to limit to 16 ounces the size of sugary drinks sold at New York restaurants, movie theaters and street carts. But in an exclusive interview, Katie Bayne, Coca-Cola's 45year-old president of sparkling beverages in North America, explains to USA TODAY marketing reporter Bruce Horovitz where she differs with Bloomberg and discusses which beverages she permits her young sons to drink. She will speak in New York City at a Beverage Digest conference. This interview is edited for clarity and space. Q: If Mayor Bloomberg were sitting across from you, what would you say to him? A: I'd say, Mayor, we believe you're absolutely right. Obesity is a critical health challenge facing our nation. But singling out single brands or foods is not going to help the situation. Working together in a partnership will. Q: Is there any merit to limits being placed on the size of sugary drinks folks can buy?
A: Sugary drinks can be a part of any diet as long as your calories in balance with the calories out. Our responsibility is to provide drink in all the sizes that consumers might need. Q: Is anyone at Coca-Cola trying to figure out a way to get sugar out of all drinks? A: There is a large portion of the population that relies on the carbohydrates and energy in our regular beverages. When my son gets home from school, he needs a pick-up with calories and great taste. Q: But critics call soft drinks "empty" calories. A: A calorie is a calorie. What our drinks offer is hydration. That's essential to the human body. We offer great taste and benefits whether it's an uplift or carbohydrates or energy. We don't believe in empty calories. We believe in hydration. Q: Because sugary drinks have been linked with obesity, some suggest soft-drink makers place "warning" labels on cans and bottles. A: There is no scientific evidence that
connects sugary beverages to obesity. If you look at the data, you can see that during the same period obesity was rising, sugar intake from beverages was decreasing. Between 1999 and 2010, sugars from soda consumption decreased by 39%, but the percentage of obese children increased by 7%, and 13% for adults. Q: Shouldn't teens drink less cola and more milk and water? A: Teens should get a healthy diet through food and beverage choices throughout the day. Q: How much Coke should a kid drink a day? A: We don't make recommendations on what kids should drink. But a 12-ounce can of Coke has 140 calories, the same as a lunch-box-size bag of pretzels. Q: What sugary drink limits do you place on your kids? A: My job as a parent is to guide them through the day to make the best choices. If my son has lacrosse practice for three hours, we go straight to McDonald's and
Soon alcohol content in alcoholic beverages to be regulated
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lcohol content in your favourite bottle of beer, wine and spirit is all set to go under scrutiny in the country. For the first time, India`s food regulator FSSAI has finalised draft standards for all categories of alcoholic beverages like wine, beer, whisky, rum, gin and vodka to set the maximum permissible limits of alcohol in these drinks and thus, mandate safety standards. The draft standards will come up for final discussions at the forthcoming meeting of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, the apex food regulator, which plans to notify these by July 1. So far, there was no benchmarking in place for prescribing safe and permissible limits of alcohol in drinks. The new standards will apply to practically all branded alcoholic beverages that are permitted for sale in India as per the current licencing regulations. Sources in the FSSAI said the new draft food standards finalised for alcoholic drinks would prescribe standards for the content of alcohol, grains and water in drinks. "These standards have already been approved by the FSSAI scientific committee and are expected to be taken up at the Authority`s forthcoming meeting before their final approval. After approvals, these will be put in the public domain and objections will be invited," FSSAI officers said.
The move has a potential to impact sales of the alcohol industry, a major revenue earner for states, with the total annual sales pegged at over USD 10 billion in the country. The industry is stiffly resisting any move from the food regulator to set standards on alcohol content in branded drinks. The current levels in India allow a maximum of 45.5 per cent alcohol content in distilled spirits such as
whisky, rum, gin or vodka, 12 per cent for wine and 8 per cent for beer. While the FSSAI says setting of standards for food products is part of its mandate by law, alcoholic beverage manufacturers say the Authority has no such power and the state governments alone had the legislative competence to govern the manufacture and sale of these products. Citing the existing state laws governing the manufacture and sale of liquor under the Excise Act, the
manufacturers of alcoholic drinks under the banner of Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies have moved the Bombay High Court challenging FSSAI`s move to set alcohol content standards. Liquor manufacturers have also moved the Jabalpur High Court challenging the inclusion of alcoholic drinks in the definition of food under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which was implemented last year in August. The Act says anything consumed would be considered as food. FSSAI officers maintain they have the requisite powers under the FSSAI Act to set standards for anything consumed by humans as food or drink items and ensure that whatever is consumed is fit for human consumption. "We are simply trying to tell consumers what is fit for their consumption. These standards are directed to safeguard public health," an FSSAI official said. Developed countries have safety standards for all alcoholic drinks and these are enforced strictly in the interest of public health. The FSSAI was established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 as a statutory body to lay down science- based food safety standards and regulating manufacturing, processing, distribution, sale and import of food so as to ensure safe and wholesome food for human consumption.
buy a 32-ounce Powerade. Q: What do you drink daily? A: I might have a mini Diet Coke while cooking breakfast for my family. After the kids leave for school, I go for a run and then have a Powerade Zero. At work I may have a Diet Coke in the morning and in the afternoon, Gold Peak Tea. In the middle of the afternoon, I may have an 8-ounce Coke. I'd rather have that than a candy bar or cookie for a pick-me-up. Q: What do you say to those who believe that sugar — particularly in soft drinks — works on the brain like an addictive substance? A: There is no scientific evidence. Q: Critics say Coke is pushing sugary drinks in China and India and will cause obesity there just like here. A: Every person in those countries is different and should be able to choose what's right for them. Courtesy: USA Today
Tea industry debates 'national drink' status for beverage
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ssam tea industry has asserted that the demand for declaring tea as the 'national drink' was justified and it could in no way be termed as being at the cost of coffee. "Coffee or other beverages will always have their own respective market shares and declaration of tea as national drink can in no way be at the cost of coffee," North East Tea Association Chairman Bidyanand Barkakoty said. He was reacting to Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jyotiraditya Scindia's recent statement in the Rajya Sabha. Scindia had said that a proposal to declare tea as the national drink of India was earlier examined during 2006 in consultation with the Central Ministries/Departments concerned and the States/UTs. "The matter was not pursued further as objections were raised by some of the State Governments and it was felt that coffee is a competing beverage and both have respective market shares and declaring one particular beverage as a 'national drink' will likely be at the cost of the other," Scindia had said. Barkakoty queried, "Was the declaration of mango as national fruit at the cost of apple or other fruits? Was the declaration of tiger as the national animal at the cost of bear or other animals?" He said 83 per cent of households in India consumed tea while its penetration of tea was in the range of 96 per cent to 99 per cent in both urban and rural areas of the country and probably no other beverage in the world had such high level of penetration. The annual tea production in the country is 988 million kgs while the annual coffee production is 302 million kgs; the annual tea consumption is 815 million kgs, while coffee consumption is 108 million kgs and the per capita consumption of coffee in India is 75 gms whereas per capita consumption of tea is 730 gms, he said. MORE
Beverages FoodProcessing Processing TimesJune-I-2012 Beverages &&Food TimesNovember -I-2011
TeaNews News
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Indian tea exports to Chinese market increasing steadily T
he aroma of Indian tea has wafted into the birthplace of the beverage across the Great Wall of China, where the GeNext is beginning to savour it as a preferred alternative to the homegrown variety. Though China remains the world's largest producer of the beverage, it produces green leaf tea while the younger generation in the country is tasting new flavours of globalisation and turning towards the black tea grown in India. "Young Chinese people find in black tea a lifestyle quotient, as they associate it more with the British or American way of life. It's more of a psychological thing that is driving this shift from green tea to black tea," said Ajay Kichlu, a veteran tea taster and director of Chamong Tee. The Kolkatabased company, which has started exporting black tea to China, expects to ship half-a-million kg of the beverage this year. India is the leading producer of black tea, with an annual output of 985 million kg, while China's annual production of green leaf tea is much higher at 1,500 million kg. Exporters expect to sell up to 10 million kg of black tea this year in China, where the demand is estimated to rise rapidly to 100 million kg by 2015. China's current share of the 200-million-kg black tea exported annually from India may be minuscule, but it signifies the opening up of a vast new market. "Though the Chinese are used to drinking green tea, we have seen that they ask for black tea instead of other beverages when they venture out to fast-food joints," said G Boriah, director (tea development) at the Tea Board. "We have heard that mainly tea from North India is being exported to China. The younger generation there prefers a stronger cup," Boriah added. More Indians Turning to Green Tea The opening up of the Chinese market is great news for the Indian tea industry, said Aditya Khaitan, managing director of McLeod Russel India Ltd (MRIL), the world's biggest integrated tea company. "We have also started exporting black leaf tea to China and the Chinese are willing to pay the price that we are asking for," Khaitan said, adding that the export volumes were bound to pick up. The growing acceptance of Indian tea in China appears to be part of a new global trend among younger consumers to try out different varieties of the beverage. Just as black tea is gaining ground in China, more Indians are also turning to green tea. "We are planning something like green tea with green apple flavour, which may find a good market among the urban Indian youth," said Kichlu of Chamong Tee. The market share of green tea globally has risen to 31 per cent from 17 per cent over the past decade. Nonetheless, the departure from tradition is more significant in China than perhaps anywhere else, simply because tea is more deeply entrenched in the culture of the land where it originated.
In China, tea is considered among the seven necessities, along with wood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar. The growing demand for Indian tea in China is heartening news also because exports to Britain, the biggest European market for the beverage, have dwindled from 22 million kg a year to 16 million kg over the past five years. Kenyan tea is gaining at the expense of the "thick" India black tea in Britain,
whose annual consumption of the beverage is about 100 million kg, of which nearly 60 million kg is imported from Africa. British consumers are shifting to varieties that have less tea content, such as camomile tea and lemon tea. "Supermarket brands have shown a decline in the UK while sales of better packaged tea, from Taylors of Harrogate, for instance, are increasing," said MRIL Director Azam Monem.
At the same time, the demand for Indian tea is growing in West Asia and Pakistan. Though Pakistan has largely depended on Kenya to meet its annual domestic demand of 135 million kg, it imported 23 million kg tea from India last year. The government has selected the US, Russia, Kazakhstan, Iran and Egypt as strategically important markets to push tea exports over the next five years.
Beverages FoodProcessing Processing TimesJune-I-2012 Beverages &&Food TimesNovember -I-2011
NewsNews Poultry
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US poultry industry welcomes government moving WTO against India
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merican poultry industry has welcomed the decision of the US government to approach global trade body WTO against India for imposing restrictions on imports of its agriculture products. The US Trade Representative (USTR) has requested the World Trade Organization (WTO) to establish a dispute settlement panel to decide American claims regarding Indian restrictions on imports of various US agricultural products, including poultry meat and chicken eggs. The National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation and USA Poultry & Egg Export Council came out in support of USTR Ron Kirk and
claimed that if the 'trade barriers' were eliminated, the value of US poultry exports to India each year would surpass $ 300 million. India has asserted that its measures are aimed at preventing entry of avian influenza, but US officials argue that the measures are inconsistent with the relevant science, international guidelines and the standards India has set for its own domestic industry. "Unfortunately, the government of India did not lift its unwarranted restrictions on US poultry after consultations with the United States at the WTO in Geneva. However, we are pleased that USTR is taking the next step," the three US organisations said
in a statement. "We support the dispute settlement process moving forward as soon as possible with the formation of this panel," they said, alleging that India has used a variety of non-tariff trade barriers to deny access US poultry to the Indian market. The industry has said the Indian move
is a protectionist policy that is inconsistent with accepted international standards, and has no health or safety justification. "Although international health standards, in particular those of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), identify only highly pathogenic stains of avian influenza as warranting trade restrictions, India has long ignored those international norms and has banned poultry imports from the United States or any country that reports any incident of avian influenza, even cases of low pathogenicity," they said. The two countries had held consultations on April 16-17, without resolution of the matter.
Include chicken products in mid day meal: Poultry Industry
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he Amritsar Poultry Industry Association has suggested giving chicken as mid day meal to the students besides exploring possibilities of export of chicken and eggs to Pakistan through Attari border. President of Association GS Bedi told that per capita consumption of egg in the country was 42 as against 180, as recommended by the Indian Council of Medicals Research (ICMR). The ICMR had recommended 11 kilogram per capita consumption of Poultry meat but the consumption was only 1.9 kilogram. "So the chicken products should be given as mid day meal to the students in schools. Eggs can be boiled and served easily" said he. He said the steps were required to boost poultry business in the state. In Punjab around 3000 poultry farmers were having 1.25 crore layers and 60 to 70 lakh broilers. On the whole more than 3 lakh people were dependent on poultry with feed millers, feed dealers, medicine dealers, meat sellers etc. In Punjab poultry industry had the investment of 6 - 7 thousand crore rupees said he.He said like Milkfed , there should be some institution ( Chickenfed ) to help the poultry industry. Bedi said that sincere efforts should be made to export chicken and eggs to Pakistan so that Punjab should get 365 days market to sell industry products. He said the people of Pakistan would also be benefited as they would get these products at economical rate. Giving example he said in Pakistan an egg was being sold at Rs 10 and Chicken at Rs 300 per kilogram whereas in India an Egg was available for Rs 2.50 chicken was being sold at Rs 130 per kilogram. The Associatioin also suggested making four Poultry Zones so that when ever there is outbreak of Bird flu in one corner of the country whole country's export should not be affected.
Beverages FoodProcessing Processing TimesJune-I-2012 Beverages &&Food TimesNovember -I-2011
News Story Success
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The chicken and egg story B
. Soundararajan, Chairman, Suguna Poultry Holdings Private Limited Photo: K. Ananthan B.Soundarajan's contract farming model in poultry has turned Suguna Holdings Pvt Ltd into a Rs 4,200 crore enterprise. At the same time, it has provided an assured livelihood to hundreds of farmers across India. K. Jeshi reports Fresh out of school, B. Soundarajan, along with his brother B. Sundarajan, set up a poultry farm in 1984 at Ganapathypalayam in Udumalpet, about 70 km away Coimbatore. “My father, a school teacher, pushed me into it. After my schooling he wanted me to opt for business. We had a vast expanse of agricultural land, so we started a poultry farm,” he says. Six years on, he introduced contract farming, redrafted the business model, and changed the face of the industry. From three farmers in Udumalpet, the business now has a whopping 18,000 farmers across the country. “We cover 8,000 villages in 13 states,” says Soundarajan, the managing director of Suguna Holdings Pvt Ltd. Their business is worth Rs. 4,200 crore. And, hundreds of farmers are smiling. “Business runs independently. We just sit back and relax now,” he jokes as we settle down for a chat at his tastefully done-up residence. Recalling the beginning of his journey he says, “Every one knew about country chicken; the concept of broiler chicken was new.” The farmer was dependant on 14 cost centres — from retail distributors, brokers and chicken feed suppliers to medicine suppliers and veterinary service providers. “The farmer is always dependant on many hands for his survival. This happens even now,” he says. But with 'forward-backward integration', Soundarajan reduced the cost centres from 14 to three. Suguna now supplies day-oldchicks to the farmers along with feed and medicines. The farmers raise the chicks for 45 days and return them to Suguna. “We take the responsibility of marketing. The farmer becomes the producer with no investment or working capital. Bank loans are arranged to help them erect a shelter and maintain the poultry. Our hatcheries and breeding farms supply the chicks. We provide the feed (made from soya and maize), medicines and vaccines. This arrangement gives farmers a regular, assured income and a consistency never seen in agriculture, thus empowering them.” From Sankaran Koil and Tenkasi to Rajapalayam, Madurai, Theni, Oddanchatram, Palani, Dindigul, Kudiyaatham, Vellore and Puducherry, you find a Suguna Poultry every 40 km or so. Their business model turned around the poultry industry. “Initially, there was scepticism about the scalability of the model. But we won over the farmers. They trusted us and we have grown together,” he says. Reaching out A farmer himself, Soundarajan says it has been an enriching journey. In 2000, the business scaled up to Rs. 100 crore and reached 4,000 farmers. The success story in Tamil Nadu prompted them to look beyond cultural and language barriers. The model is
now replicated in 15 States. “A farmer is a farmer — he may live in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Punjab, U.P or Rajasthan, but his approach to life is the same. He needs a helping hand.” In 2010, Suguna entered Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. It is now looking at South East Asia and Africa. A dedicated team of 5,500 employees is the company's backbone. The 250-odd offices across India are technology-enabled and connected to the central office in Coimbatore. Suguna Daily Fresh outlets (about 100 shops) promote a hygienic model of processed meat consumption. Soundarajan says more corporates should connect with farmers through a business plan that doesn't exploit them. “A farmer is confined to his land. To grow bigger, he needs help. The Government should protect his interests with a contract farming law. ” The poultry industry, including eggs, stands at 40,000 crore and is growing at 15 per cent every year. Suguna commands 18 per cent of the market share, and expects growth from newer markets such as Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. “India is an emerging market. The per capita meat consumption in Europe, West Asia and the U.S. is 65 kg. In India, it is three. We have to grow four times more to achieve the world average of 12 kg.” What an idea! He is happy that from being a backyard farm, Poultry has become a corporate set up. “Chicken is no longer a festive special, people have it more often now. About 80 per cent of poultry produce comes through contract farming and this has ensured affordability, quality and availability. We are not technocrats or management
graduates, but we worked on the business model and it clicked,” he says with pride. Soundarajan is proud about Coimbatore. “People in the western part of Tamil Nadu are calm and ethical. I like this conservative approach. And we have such pleasant weather here,” he smiles. When he is not working, Soundarajan treks in the forests near Siruvani, Parambikulam and the Velliangiri Hills. Or blazes the track on his Kawasaki. s“I always tell management students to start early, even when they are 21 years old. They are free to think independently, and can afford to take risks. Failure rates are high and not all of them succeed. But, it is still worth trying. Businesses are created through ideas and not money. Suguna was one such successful idea.” Other projects Under Suguna Holdings, the 50-crore Globion India Private Limited in Hyderabad manufactures poultry vaccines Suguna Foundation Trust has planted 30 lakh saplings across India through its network of 18,000 farmers
Suguna Institute of Poultry in Udumalpet will offer diploma courses in poultry from August Suguna Foods will extend its services to cattle, fish and pet food The company also plans to enter the dairy segment Farmer's Speak S. Kanadasamy, SKS Farm, Pulankinaru, Udumalpet “My father used to cycle around the farms. We drive around in cars now,” says S. Kandasamy. A regular income through contract farming has brought about noticeable changes in the lifestyle of farmers like him. “Contract farming has boosted rural economy in a big way. An assured income once in 45 days drew many agriculturists in Udumalpet to full-time poultry. And the results have been rewarding.” The farmer who has been with Suguna since 1987 has branched into 'parent bird breeding' (thaai kozhi valarpu) too, a 70week cycle. “In parent integration, we maintain the chicks over 25 weeks, prepare them for egg-laying and supply the eggs to Suguna. Established farms go in for this parental integration as it extends over a longer period.” He maintains one lakh birds through parental integration. His wife K. Sudha is also an entrepreneur. She and her team run Sudha Poultry Farm at Malaiyandipattanam in Pollachi. “We become the owners and there is zero risk.” They add that corporates and the government should support such endeavours. “Government should offer loans for agriculture-based sectors at a nominal rates of interest.” M. Neelavathy, Neelavathy Farm, Udumalpet She started with 1,000 birds in contract farming on 3,000 sq.ft area. Now, she has over 10,000 sq.ft. “Poultry is our main source of income now. We are not able to depend on agriculture as water is scarce. Rains are no longer seasonal. Ground water has hit an all-time low. You need two or three bore wells to maintain a one-acre farm.”
Beverages FoodProcessing Processing TimesJune-I-2012 Beverages &&Food TimesNovember -I-2011
'Strengthen livestock, dairy sectors to achieve 4% agri growth'
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ndia can achieve four per cent growth in the agriculture sector, as envisaged in the 12th Five Year Plan, provided the livestock and dairy sectors are given enough incentives, said Mr Mark Kahn, Executive Director of Godrej Agrovet.
well as undertaking farm extension services, he said.
He was participating in a panel discussion on agriculture growth at the Indian Merchants' Chamber.
Mr Kahn pointed that private companies are best suited for developing the sector because they do maximum value addition in milk products, while cooperative sector dairy revenues are still driven by selling milk and they have not diversified their product portfolio.
Mr Kahn said that currently, polices are heavily tilted in favour of dairies run by the cooperative sector. However, cooperative dairies have been successful in Gujarat and to a certain extent in Maharashtra and Karnataka. “But, in the rest of the country it has been an unmitigated disaster. Policy makers should pay attention to private dairies,� he said. Under the National Dairy Plan, huge sums of money would be handed over to the cooperative dairies, neglecting private sector dairies like Nestle and others. These private dairies are developing the sector very well, as
The National Dairy Development Board has rolled out an ambitious, 15year-long National Dairy Plan, envisaging an outlay of Rs 17,300 crore. Private initiative
He said that there was huge potential for growth in the livestock sector, which is almost 25 per cent of the agriculture sector. The sector is already growing at four per cent without any major help from the Centre or the State Governments. The poultry and inland fisheries sectors are also growing at six to eight per cent. There is a need for new investment in these sectors too, he said.
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