Malpractices Prevalent In Bakeries

 Bakeries   adopts  several  malpractices  in their  greed  to make quick  money   with utter disregard for consumer health  or  product  quality  . Few of them have made it a  regular practice until caught  whereas few of them  take chances  when  they  could  pass on with  minimum of risk .Lack of awareness of legal aspects  and  lower penalties encourage  manufacturers to adopt  malpractices in bakeries .

Consumers have to remain  vigilant  on this front  as to report  immediately  to the concerned authorities if they find any thing  missing  either in taste or any  health related issues after consuming these baked items .Following are  signs for  poor quality of  baked items such as

Presence of  foreign particles ( metal , sands , insects , threads , plastic , wrapper  )
Pungent small
Fungus or bacterial growth
Poor packaging - seal broken or open packs
Misleading  labels ( ingredients , allergens  , date )
Poor taste
Stale items
Burnt  small or taste 
Less Weights


Adulteration by mixing  low grade  especially cheap and low nutrient  material 

 Mixing inferior  items  with  ingredients  or diluting standard recipes  for profit

 



Substitution of  ingredients  lesser known or inferior brand

Bakeries would  buy inferior brands at very low cost  to save money and make profits  at the cost of  consumers well being 


Recycling of  spoiled material 

Many bakeries  are found to recycle  waste dough  or  rejected material to  cut down waste  thus  lowering quality of  product . 


Unsanitary  working condition 

Manufacturers  are found to neglect the  sanitation and hygiene part of  process  to which cases of   infestation and report of  foreign particles in product  are reported  by consumers. Not having enough staff to  do  the cleaning of  factory premises .
 
Lack of   personal  hygiene  and  sanitation 
 
Lack of monitoring and  neglecting  personal  hygiene aspects of food handler to save cost .






Use of  fraudulent  weights  and measures
Giving less weight  as declared on pack weight   or  playing with  moisture content  to  have  heavier product  at the risk of product quality .


Not all  bakeries adopt these malpractices but  for few  who indulge in these methods  to make quick profit. Regulators  and consumers should remain vigilant  against  such  malpractices .

Food Safety And Standards Act Comes Into Effect From 5th Aug 2011

 FSSAI Act 2006  passed by  Indian  parliament to streamline  food safety related issues  under single authority and  rules .Its notification  has been delayed for months  due one or the other reason has been  finally being put in effect  from 5th Aug 2011.

Food manufacturers , suppliers  , vendors  ,eateries , storage , distribution , imports and exports, food services and other related businesses  would be governed by new rules under FSSAI  Rules 2011 .


The Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011

The Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011 has been notified in the Gazette of India dated 1st Aug 2011. these Regulations shall come in force on or after 5th Aug 2011

    Food safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food businesses) regulation, 2011
    Food Safety and standards (Packaging and Labelling) regulation, 2011
    Food safety and standards (Food product standards and Food Additives) regulation, 2011 (part I)
    Food safety and standards( Food product standards and food additives) regulation, 2011 (part II)
    Food safety and standards (Prohibition and Restriction on sales) regulation, 2011
    Food safety and standards (contaminants, toxins and residues) regulation, 2011
    Food Safety and Standards (Laboratory and sampling analysis) regulation, 2011

The Food Safety and standards Rules, 2011   

The Food Safety and Standards Rules, 2011 has been notified in the Gazette of India vide G.S.R.No:-362-(E) dated 5th May, 2011. These rules shall come in to force after three months from the date of publication in the official gazette. (i.e. 5th August, 2011).



Copies could be downloaded  from   fssai  website
 www.fssai.gov.in

FSSAI  brings  licensing and adulteration  laws

Big Food MNC's Say No To Sugar In Jute Bag s

4,00,000  jobs could be impacted  by  refusal of    food  MNC,s companies to accept jute's bags  for  their sugar bags packaging . Indian Govt has made it mandatory for public companies ( JPMA) to use  jute bags instead  of  poly  bags  for their supplies and procurement . This is  to support ailing jute industry  which   gives jobs  to thousands workers   and farmers who grow jute . Food  companies need to install few equipments  to  screen out  foreign particles  in sugar bags . Where as Jute manufacturers  can  innovate  and  manufacture bags which would   remove objections from the food  companies.  Even plastic bags   could  bring contamination  which any case  requires  sifters , magnets an other screening equipments  to remove foreign particles .Bakery and Confectionery  manufacturers are one of the  biggest  consumers of  sugar .


A report

In a body blow to the ailing jute industry in the country, major corporates like Coca Cola India, Cadbury, Nestle India and GlaxoSmithkline have outright rejected the supply of sugar in jute bags. These firms have argued that the jute fibres are contaminating the sugar that they use for manufacture of their products.

These corporate majors, have instead opted for supply of sugar packed in plastic bags.

The snub to jute bags by these corporates has come at a time when the Jute Commissioner's Office (JCO) and the Indian sugar industry have locked horns over the availability of raw jute and production of jute bags in 2010-11.

Over the past few months since the peak sugar season started, all the four food and beverage companies have written letters in phases to the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) expressing their concern over jute sacks and favouring packing their materials in polypropylene sacks.

ISMA in turn has taken up the issue with the Union Textiles Ministry and the Jute Commissioner's Office (JCO) in Kolkata.

source
business standard

Food Handling Gloves In Bakeries

Food handlers or operators in bakeries  more often comes into manual contact to perform activity in  pre mixing ( addition of ingredients & chemicals) ,mixing ( check dough consistency) , baking ( remove defectives ) , stacking ( packing) .Manufacturers provide workers with protective gloves to prevent cross contamination ,microbes and bacteria from handlers hand .Wearing gloves is not mandatory in most countries but still as per good manufacturing practices manufacturers provide their workers  with food handling gloves


Conventional method which most of the bakeries still use is  to provide wash basins  near to working areas  with potassium permanganate solution  to wash their hands in frequent intervals .


PVC  thin clear transparent disposable  gloves

These gloves are preferred gloves for  food handlers as its cheap in comparison to latex or vinyl gloves .Even while wearing these gloves workers should be trained to switch over to new pairs in case of damage or high perspiration in hands .One has to wash his hands and use dryer  before putting up new gloves  . These types of gloves are mostly used  where glove changing is frequently required .


Latex  disposable gloves

These gloves are required for handling of hot objects  such hot cookies while at baking section or removing defective biscuits from oven or depaning  operations , oven loading or unloading  in bakery manufacturing process.Its also used in area where workers have to handle chemicals .Latex gloves are costlier than PVC poly gloves  hence it is used only where you cannot  replace it withpvc poly gloves.These have to be washed and sanitised for multiple use .These gloves could sometimes results in rashes and itching.

Guidelines for Gloves
 

•      Wash hands properly before and after wearing or changing to a new pair of gloves
•      Use gloves that fit properly and that are designed for the task at hand
•      Change gloves whenever tasks change or whenever an employee leaves his/her workstation
•     Sneezing, coughing or touching one's hair or face with a gloved hand all require hand washing and a   new  pair of gloves
•     Because perspiration and bacteria buildup under gloves, wash hands and switch to a fresh pair periodically

Few experts  are  of the view that  gloves  are as harmful as manual contact . These gloves develops  pinholes when damaged which may not be visible by naked eyes , this may then results in bacterial contamination of hands.Workers never remove these gloves as often as required.Expert still believes the  conventional method of hand washing  to gloves

Dioxin Tainted Food Scare Across EU

 Eggs  are one of the prime ingredients in   bakery products  such as Cakes , Pastries , Cookies & Buns . Dioxin scare has  affected  bakery manufacturers in a way that  retailers  have started taking off  bakery products from shelf  as reported in  UK & Ireland .It all started when Oil meant for industrial  use went as animal feed to poultries

A  report

The contaminated eggs with toxic dioxin from Germany are panicking consumers across Europe as they are suspected to have entered the UK food chain. It is understood that 14 tonnes of tainted egg product sent to the Netherlands from Germany, destined for use in goods such as pastries and mayonnaise, had been re-exported to Britain.

Earlier this week, the German authorities said up to 3,000 tonnes of contaminated feed, which are only meant for industrial use - were sent to poultry and pig farms, and that eggs from some of the farms were then exported to the Netherlands for processing. The origin of the feed contamination has been traced to a distributor of oils for animal feed production in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, where oils meant for industrial use in biofuels were distributed for animal feed.

The German agriculture ministry has said that 4,709 farms were being closed as a precaution, and the suspected toxin fed chickens about 8000 were so far culled. Eight of Germany’s 16 states were affected by closure order.

The European Commission health spokesman Frederic Vincent said in Brussels that it was still unclear if those eggs contained dioxin. However, tests of other eggs from suspected farms were found to contain up to five times the EU’s limit for dioxin.

Read more on
German Dioxin-tainted Food Scare Heightens across EU

What Consumers Should Know About Packaged Food Label s

Here  are  the  declaration made mandatory by FSSAI  for  food manufacturers on  their  food product packaging .( includes  bakery products ). Consumers are advised to check details before buying food products  to ascertain that food is good for consumption.

• Name , trade name  or description of  food
• List of  ingredients  in descending  order of  their  composition  by weight and volume
• Specific  declaration  for added  permitted  colours/added flavours  and their class
• Symbol of Veg / Non- veg  food (  Green coloured  circle in a square  with green outline for vegetarian food and brown  colour filled circle  inside the square  with brown outline for non-vegetarian  food )
• Net weight  or number or measure of volume  of  content
• Month and year of manufacture /packing
• Best before date with storage condition
• Nutritional  information  or Nutritional  facts per 100gm or 100ml or per serving of the product
• The food  in which  hydrogenated vegetable fats  or bakery shortening  is used  shall  declare  on the label  that " Hydrogenated  Vegetable  Fats or  Bakery Shortening  used - Contains Trans Fat "
• Where a health claim  of  "  Trans Fat Free" is made  then the  Trans Fat  shall be less than  0.2g per serving  and in case  where the claim " Saturated Fat Free"  is made then  the saturated fat  shall not be more than  0.1gm per 100gm  or 100ml of food .
• Nutritional information are not mandatory  in case of raw  agricultural commodities like  wheat , rice , sugar ,cereal  spice and condiments , table salt  or non - nutritive  products .

In case of any complaints  consumer  can  log in to
www.core.nic.in  or call  1800 180 4566

other  important site on food safety guidelines are
food safety and standards authority of India ( FSSAI)    www.fssai.gov.in
Ministry of consumer affairs , Food and Public Distribution   www.fcamin.nic.in

Benzoic Acid reason for Dr Pepper recall in Ireland

12 November 2009 - Coca Cola Hellenic Bottling Company has withdrawn certain batches of Dr Pepper in Northern Ireland, because of high levels of benzoic acid, the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has announced.

Coca Cola Hellenic Bottling Company is contacting all its customers who received the affected Dr Pepper to make sure it is withdrawn.
The affected bottles have only been distributed in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and no other batches of Dr Pepper are known to be affected.
The product being withdrawn is:
Product: Dr Pepper (500ml)Batch codes: KH42315L91807 to KH42359L91807 and KH40000L91907 to KH41120L91907'Best before': end December 2009

Source : FSA UK

Indian Bakeries adopting BRC ( British Retail Consortium ) food safety standards

The two Indian bakeries which have implemented BRC standards for food safety are
Ravi foods.
Unibic Biscuits P Ltd.

What is BRC ?
The BRC (British Retail Consortium) Global Standard for Food Safety was created to ensure supplier compliance and secure retailers’ ability to guarantee the quality and safety of the food products they sell. Today it is used worldwide as a framework for any business (retailers and processors) to assist the production of safe food and the selection of reliable suppliers.

Developed by the British Retail Consortium (BRC), a UK trade organization that represents the interests of UK retailers, the BRC Global Standard - Food was created to establish a standard for due diligence and supplier approval.
The standard has been adopted by food manufacturers throughout the world, especially by those organizations supplying British retailers. Third-party certification to the standard helps manufacturers, brand owners and retailers fulfil their legal obligations and safeguard consumers. The standard covers a comprehensive scope of product safety areas, as well as the legal and due diligence responsibilities of both the supplier and the retailer.

Who is it relevant to?
It is particularly suitable for companies supplying food products to UK retailers, regardless of the product or country of origin. In most cases certification to this standard is a pre-condition for supplying to UK retailers
Requirements
The principal requirements of the standard are the adoption and implementation of a HACCP system, a documented and effective quality management system and a control of factory environmental standards, products, processes and personnel.

It is one among many certifications which are applicable to food Industry .

Benefit of HACCP in bakeries

HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) is a system, which identifies specific hazards and preventative measures for their control to minimise the risk of producing defective products and services for the each step of the food chain. HACCP has been adopted by all major food companies and are mandatory for exports to certain countries . Bakery manufacturers would gain by implementing HACCP .
HACCP determines the critical limits in the critical control points (CCPs) in the process and determines the critical limits by monitoring and applying amendatory and inhibiting factors. It is very difficult to determine the source of the fault when there is a problem with the end product in the factories where in HACCP is not applied.
In brief, HACCP is a proactive risk management system that contain all steps of food chain, from raw material manufacturer to end product and analyse possible dangers and guard. In industry, for successful HACCP system, a successful team is required.Pre-requisite programs and Standard Sanitation Operation Procedures (SSOP) are also required for HACCP.

How do we implement HACCP ?

As described its s analysis of hazard in a given environment and declaring critical control points . We start with going through entire process of production right from raw material unloading to finished good dispatch. We take entire inputs and actions in process which might effect process . After that we rank them on a scale of severity .Those which get maximum severity scale are declared critical points hence controls are devised to minimise the impact
Factors taken could be hazards , impact on brand , legal compliance's , damage to health of consumers, etc . SOP are documented with logs and records for any deviation from standard procedures . Areas are marked numbered and highlighted so that every one knows what is the critical control point .Internal audits and external audits are conducted for compliance.

What Are The Pre-Requisite Programs?
(GAP) Good Agriculture Practice
(GVP) Good Veterinary Practice
(GMP Good Manufacturing Practice
(GHP) Good Hygiene Practice
(GPP) Good Production Practice
(GDP) Good Distribution Practice
(GTP) Good Trade Practice

What Are The Benefits of HACCP?
Preventing possible hazards and supplying safe products
Minimising risks of food poisoning
Making increase consumer confidence
Making increase industry authenticity
Supplying active auto-control system
Minimizing product cost
Maximising advantageous
Making easier marketing
Increasing products’ shelf life
Making solve product problems systematically
Making product export easy, due to it international acceptability.
Increasing food safety and hygiene conscious of food industry stuff.

CCP in bakeries could be : Haccp in bakery industry  have its own features which includes identifying  critical control points  which have significant  impact on the business .Haccp  for  bakery  industry  is the most potent tool in food safety management systems which also includes prp( prerequisite programs ,oprp (operational requisite programs) and ccp's .

Oven burners
Baking temperatures
Storage temperatures 
Metal detectors
Sieves
Filters
Conveyors

learn more  on bakery business