POINTERS: Regulatory Impact on the Vegetable Oils Sector

By: Dr. Prabodh Halde

Dr. Prabodh Halde , President of Association of Food Scientists and Technologists of India CFTRI Mysore, and a renowned Food Technologist with a well-rounded, multi-disciplinary experience , he is also Convener of Regulatory & Legal Cell of SEA India.

Prabodh has enormous practical industrial experience in the areas of Quality and Food Safety, he is a lead auditor for ISO 9001/14001/OSHAS 18001/ISO 22000 systems. Prabodh is a prominent office-bearer in some of the leading Food Safety organizations in India. His responsibilities include serving as the Chairman of All India Food Processing Association (AIPFI) Maharashtra state, Convener Regulatory committee SEA India, a Technical Committee member of IBHA, a Board of Management member at BHM SNDT Mumbai, Member of Regulatory committee CIFTI-FICCI,CII,PFNDAI & RAI India etc.

He has mentored over 20 food startups and created the ecosystem wherein over 300 new startups will be benefited.

He has participated in the Indian delegation to CODEX meetings four times at China and Malaysia in 2012, 2013, 2015 & 2017. Prabodh NLRP ( National Level Resource Person ) for FSSAI & He has personally trained more than 2000 Food Safety Officers so far as part of TOT and FSO training program.

An accomplished motivational and Technical speaker, he has delivered more than a two hundred seminars and lectures at different conferences all across India and abroad on Food Processing / Quality and Food Safety. His chosen area of expertise is Food Safety and Food Regulations. As recognition of his expertise, he was selected to be part of a PMO visit delegation to Tajikistan as a food industry expert in June 2015. In May 2017, he was invited by US state department for 21 days of exchange program at USA as food safety expert under Leadership exchange program.

He has started various innovative programs in AFST Viz Project Ashirwad, Project Avishkar, Project Power talk and Project Parampara. All these programs are now popular at national level . He has written much-appreciated books on Food Safety regulations for sectors such as the Oil industry, Bakery Industry and the Retail industry. These informative books have proved to be very useful guides for Food Business Operators. He has also published 5 motivational books for students named ‘Prabodhika’ , recently 5th Prabodhika was blessed by HE Shri Ramnath Kovind, Preisdent of India on 5th January 2018.

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Vegetable oil and fat plays a vital role in our modern diet. Domestic consumption of edible oils has increased substantially over the years and is likely to increase further with enhancement in income and population. However, regulatory activities significantly influence the demand and supply of oil sector. In India, FSSAI is a regulatory authority under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, is responsible for setting standards of food in interest of consumer safety. In order to support trade, FSSAI has brought domestic standards in line with International standards by harmonizing the food standards with those of Codex Alimentarius Commission. This leads to various amendments in standards, safety requirements, and other mandatories for processing of vegetable oil. For instance, Palm oil, Palm Stearin, Palm Kernel Stearin, Palm Kernel Olein, Palm Superolein which were not defined before 2017, are now standardized. Likewise, there were multiple revision and introduction of new standards in last few years that proves to be productive for the overall growth of oil sector by widening the scope of innovation and facilitate the trade.

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Questions & Answers (2) :

Norhanis Jamaludin

2 years ago

Hi Dr.Prabodh, I understand that India has started the initiatives on trans fat control. How about the 3-MCPD and GE? Is there any initiatives made so far?

PRABODH HALDE:
The chemical 3-monochloropropane diol (3-MCPD) and related substances called 3-MCPD esters are food processing contaminants found in some processed foods and vegetable oils, 3-MCPD and its esters are formed unintentionally in these foods, in particular during oil refining processes also another food processing contaminant called glycidyl fatty acid esters (GE) EFSA concluded that GE are a concern for public health because they are genotoxic and carcinogenic, i.e. they can damage DNA and cause cancer. But in India FSSAI has not yet considered this and not having any attention. But as a responsible manufacturer, many companies test the same and keep the record. Hope this meets your expection. The European Commission is finalising new EU legislation aimed at reducing GE levels in vegetable oils and food. The current update is for 3-MCPD and its esters only and EFSA’s previous assessment of GE has not changed
2 years ago

Nur Fairuz

2 years ago

How does the governing body ascertain whether an imported product is suitable to be introduced in your country? How do you all handle your knowledge inadequacy in handling the products when palm producers want to introduce new palm based products in your country . What I heard from the market is that your vanaspait producers like to do hydrogenation leading some quarters to say that palm based ingredient is not healthy. In fact, palm does not need hydrogenation. Does this type of market talks affect your decision?

PRABODH HALDE:
In India, we have standard foods and food lists which can be imported as per HSN code list. If product is new or novel, it will go for product approval. Palm is very importnat part of indian diet and helping indian market to keep the oil prizes affordable. Palm oil is completely safe all across world. regards Prabodh
2 years ago