The government has extended ban on import of milk and its production from China for one more year.

A notification to this effect was issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade late Monday evening which says that milk and its products would continue to be banned from China until June 23, 2012 or further orders, whichever is earlier. The prohibition of import includes chocolates and chocolate products and candies/ confectionary/ food preparations with milk or milk solids as an ingredient.

The country’s top food regulator’s advisory to extend ban on milk and milk products from China for another one year from June 24 is yet to be notified by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (D

Energy drinks in India will have to strip off their “energy” tag and instead be renamed as “caffeinated beverage”. According to new standards being laid down by the Food Safety and Standards of India (FSSAI), such beverages must also carry a safety warning for consumers stating that such drinks are not recommended for “children, pregnant or lactating women, persons sensitive to caffeine and sportspersons” as well as “no more than two cans to be consumed per day”.

FSSAI decided to tighten rules in the energy-drink sector after health concerns related to the high caffeine content of non-alchoholic, caffeinated drinks were raised almost two years ago. At their recent meeting, the FSSAI finalised the new standards for such drinks.

AHMEDABAD: The Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has made it mandatory for the food and drugs department of every state to test for harmful bacteria like e coli in milk this year. This apart, the milk producers too will have to test for bacterial content like staphaureus and listeria monocytogenes before pushing it into the market. The new set of standards was first introduced across the nation in August 2011. The producers will have to declare on their packets that the milk is certified e coli, staphaureus and listeria monocytogenes free. The FSSAI has laid down standards for 10 types of milk that include buffalo, cow, goat or sheep, mixed, standardized, re-combined, toned, double-toned, skimmed and full-cream milk.

Naimuddin Shaikh, a 37-year-old oral cancer patient, has written a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, asking him to emulate the blanket ban on tobacco products followed in stat

Millions of Indians are facing a new health risk. Increasing water scarcity is forcing farmers to grow vegetables and fodder using untreated sewage waste water across urban and rural cities.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FAAI) has in the past issued several warnings on pesticide residues and crop contaminants, including aflatoxins, patulin and ochratoxin in Indian fruit and vegetables. These pesticides are known to adversely effect the nervous system and can result in lung damage and cancer

JAIPUR: The state government on Tuesday filed a detailed compliance report before a division bench of Rajasthan high court elaborating on the action taken against suppliers of adulterated milk in various parts of the state.

The court will give its final verdict on May 21. A division bench of high court, while hearing a suo moto PIL in March, had asked additional advocate general S N Kumawat to file the action report on the campaign against adulterated milk in Rajasthan.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed a six-member committee of experts to frame guidelines to deal with the presence of pesticides' residue in vegetable and fruits across the country by August 17.

A Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice S.K. Kaul and Justice Rajiv Shakdher passed the direction while hearing a suo motu petition in the matter on the basis of a media report alleging presence of pesticides' residue in fruits and vegetables in the Capital.

Unauthorised manufacturing units mushroom as consumption goes up by 15%

Areas abutting the city are increasingly dotted with packaged drinking water industrial units. A minimum of 30 plants have come up over the last year in the neighbouring districts. The rising demand for water this summer has also paved the way for the sale of sub-standard quality of water and operation of unauthorised units.