14 JUNE 2015: Maggi argues against the ban in court

Ø  Improving accountability, decentralising power and setting up an independent regulator are the key elements for the restructuring of Indian Railways, NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy says. The panel on restructuring of the Indian Railways, headed by Mr. Debroy, submitted its final report on Friday. The committee has set a five-year timeframe for implementing its recommendations and has suggested doing away with the Railway Budget, Dr. Debroy told.

Ø  The Union government has launched an insurance pool of Rs. 1,500 crore, mandatory under the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act to offset the financial burden on foreign nuclear suppliers in case of an accident. Union Minister of State in the Department of Atomic Energy Jitendra Singh said several projects such as the long-pending Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojna held up in the absence of the pool were now expected to move forward. Clauses in the Act, which give the operator the right to legal recourse and allow it to sue the suppliers in case of any accident, were seen as being a major hindrance to the growth of the nuclear industry. These concerns led to the formation of the Indian nuclear insurance pool. R.K. Sinha, Secretary in the Department of Atomic Energy, said this would be a solution for suppliers’ concerns about liability from nuclear risks. Under the pool, nuclear operators’ liability and suppliers’ special contingency insurance policies will be offered. The pool has been set up by General Insurance Corporation of India and 11 other non-life insurers, including New India, Oriental Insurance, National Insurance and United India Insurance, from the public sector, apart from private insurance companies.

Ø  The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) identified three problems with Nestle’s Maggi range of products: lead levels higher than the permissible quantity of 2.5 ppm (parts per million); misleading labelling on the package that stated “No added MSG”; and release of “Maggi Oats Masala Noodle with Tastemaker” without product approval. As of June 12, 18 States (including Delhi) have banned Maggi. Four have banned the product on account of excessive lead content, five cited presence of MSG as the reason, while the remaining nine have done so either on the basis of media reports or in response to FSSAI recommendations. Of the 12 States that have not instituted a ban, some have found the product safe for consumption and sent samples for further testing. Food companies typically use MSG as a flavour enhancer. While scientific opinion is still divided on whether MSG is harmful to human health, from a regulatory standpoint, there is no requirement that noodles should have no MSG in them. [It does so, however, for meat — 500 mg a kg — which has no bearing on this case.] By the Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011, framed by the FSSAI, MSG is permitted for use as seasoning. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), too, considers the addition of MSG in foods to be “generally recognised as safe”. MSG is also present in various products such as soya sauce and soups. Yet Assam, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh have cited the presence of MSG as the reason for banning Maggi. Moreover, Nestle claims that it does not add MSG to its noodles. The real problem surrounding MSG, by the order released by the FSSAI to Nestle, is about “mislabelling” and “misbranding”. Maggi noodles sold in India contain hydrolysed groundnut protein, onion powder and wheat flour, all of which contain glutamate. MSG is a sodium salt of glutamate. The glutamate in MSG is chemically indistinguishable from glutamate present in food proteins. So if the lab reports are detecting MSG, it is probably due to natural glutamate, Nestle says. By FSSAI regulations, foods with any ingredient that naturally contains MSG cannot add a label “No added MSG” on their packaging, as this could give a misleading impression that the product contains no MSG. And this is where Nestle went wrong. Nestle’s “No added MSG” label is in violation of the FSS (Packaging & Labelling) Regulations, 2011. The company has now agreed to remove the label from the packet. But given that, with or without this label, the actual quantum of MSG in Maggi is not going to change — the MSG-driven bans would seem to have less to do with food safety than a consumer’s right to know. But Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Delhi did find excessive levels of lead in the product. And Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab, Telangana, Haryana and West Bengal found the lead content to be within prescribed limits, not in violation of safety norms. High lead content is a health hazard because lead poisoning, especially in children, can affect cognitive development. Nestle argues that lead testing should be done for the final product — after dropping the noodles in water and adding the tastemaker. It claims that this is the method the company follows. The FSSAI, however, insists on measuring lead levels separately — in the noodles and in the tastemaker. The excessive quantity of lead, reported in tests conducted by the State authorities, is for the tastemaker alone. The FSSAI says that since the noodles and the tastemaker are present in separate packages, the prescribed standards should be applied independently.

Ø  Days after the State government announced setting up of AIIMS in both divisions of Jammu and Kashmir, various social, political and religious bodies demanded setting up an IIT, IIM and IIMC for the Valley to end the “regional imbalance” and ensure equitable progress in the State. The demand for setting up of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) in the Valley gained momentum after Industries and Commerce Minister Chander Prakash Ganga on June 11 announced that AIIMS would come up in both the regions — Jammu and Kashmir.

Ø  China has approached Bangladesh to sign a deal on blue economy and maritime cooperation in the Bay of Bengal, days after Dhaka and New Delhi signed such an accord. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Dhaka, Mr. Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart, Sheikh Hasina, witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the University of Dhaka and India’s Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for joint research on oceanography of the Bay of Bengal and an agreement for the setting up of a joint working group. The deals are seen as a major step in maritime cooperation between the two neighbours. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is likely to pay a two-day official visit to Bangladesh in September, marking the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. And China wants to sign the MoU during the visit. Of the two deals Bangladesh and India signed in Dhaka on June 6, one was on “blue economy and maritime cooperation in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean”, which envisages cooperation for capacity building, training and joint research collaborations, and setting up of a joint working group for further cooperation in this area.