Our right to know includes the right to know what we eat. We live in a transgenic age, one in which it is no longer sufficient for food labelling to stop with listing such things as nutritional values, chemical additives, and possible allergens. Although there is no evidence that approved genetically modified food is unsafe for human consumption, people have the right to choose not to eat it for ideological,...

The government is expected to notify new rules on food safety in December to regulate manufacture, sale and import of food items. “Ministry has already finalised the rules and regulations for the implementation of the food safety and standards act (FSSA), 2006 and the draft will be notified by December for the public consultation,” the Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Mr Ghu lam Nabi Azad told PTI. This will pave...

Despite erratic and unevenly distributed monsoon this year, the government has predicted that food production in the state will touch 90.94 lakh tonnes in 2010-11. Agriculture minister Umesh V Katti on Tuesday said this year's production will surpass the target of 87.27 lakh tonnes. "This will be made possible by implementing technologies like precision farming and timely distribution of quality seeds," he pointed out. EXPERT PANEL ON CARDS The government will soon set...

More than 96,000 cases of food Adulteration are pending in various courts in the country and there is no check on the violators as the Prevention of Food and Adulteration Act proves to be ineffective as its main focus is on the detection of Adulteration. The point was discussed at a state-level conference of food processing industries’ association here on Sunday. P Kartikein, Assistant Director, Food Safety and Standard Authority of...

The Union Cabinet approves a new Bill to protect whistle-blowers, but there is concern whether its provisions will amount to much. ON March 22, a special court in Patna pronounced three persons guilty in the murder of Satyendra K. Dubey, a civil engineer from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. He was shot dead on November 29, 2003, for blowing the whistle on corrupt practices in the Golden Quadrilateral Project in Bihar....