-Economic and Political Weekly The cultivation of geneticallymodified crops, especially food crops, is not just a domestic issue; it has an impact on global food trade as well. Sukhpal Singh (sukhpal@iimahd.ernet.in) is at the Centre for Management in Agriculture, IIM, Ahmedabad. There is no doubt that the application of biotechnology can lead to yield improvement, cost cutting and lower crop losses, besides providing more processable raw materials and designer products. That is why...

-Outlook Over 20 per cent of food items served in restaurants and fast food outlets across the country have been found to be substandard or adulterated, according to government data. Out of 46,283 food samples including milk, milk products, edible vegetable oil and spices tested at various government laboratories during 2013-14, as many as 9,265 samples were found to be adulterated and misbranded. Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of such cases in...

-Mid Day   A visit to the APMC in Vashi revealed that calcium carbide - referred to as ‘carpet' by traders - which is known to cause cancer, food poisoning, nausea etc - is being used indiscriminately to ripen the fruit faster, so as to increase sales Think before you sink your teeth into those juicy, delicious mangoes. For, they could have been ripened artificially using calcium carbide, a deadly chemical that is...

-The Times of India BANGALORE: Probably it's time to take a closer look at what's on your platter. Cypermethrin, heptachlor, quinalphos, aldrin, chlorodane, dichlorvas, cypermethrin - these banned pesticides could well be a part of your regular diet. Okras, leafy green cabbages and other vegetables, bananas or oranges and apples that you so relish may be overloaded with some of these harmful pesticides. A study by the Food Safety and Standards Authority...

-The Business Standard FSSAI will put the draft guidelines in front of a seven-member expert committee Mumbai: In what would alter the consumption pattern of products such as burgers, pizzas, sandwiches, snack foods and soft drinks in schools, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is putting in place final guidelines to determine what counts as healthy food in educational institutions. The guidelines, to be released by December this year, would...