-PTI/ The Hindu ‘The police can take action including registration of FIRs’ The Delhi High Court has been told by the AAP government that under the penal law, Food Adulteration is a cognisable offence against which the police can take action, including registration of FIRs. The submission was made before a Bench of Justices G.S. Sistani and A.J. Bhambhani which had earlier said that the use of pesticides and chemicals to ripen fruits...

-Livemint.com The production of ‘mahua’ is finally entering the formal economy as new initiatives seek to upscale this indigenous drink, selling it across the country and even the globe It is a cloudy morning in Nangur village in Bastar district, Chattisgarh. It is a settlement of a little over 400 families, considered fairly large in these parts. We make a bumpy journey down a narrow, unpaved road intermittently shaded by sargi (sal)...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A parliamentary panel examining the functioning of India's food safety authority has sought an explanation for low conviction rates in cases of adulteration and misbranding of food items and criticised the slow implementation of proposals to upgrade state food-testing laboratories. The parliamentary standing committee on health has asked the health ministry to determine whether the low conviction rates in cases of misbranded or adultered food are due to...

-The Hindu Business Line New Delhi: In a bid to curb misleading claims and adulteration in edible oils, the Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) has notified a draft regulation that sets standards for the permissible composition of fatty acids in various types of edible oils. The amendments in the regulation have been introduced at a time when edible oil companies have been increasingly looking at launching blended oil products to woo...

-Deccan Herald The government’s decision to make Aadhaar mandatory for children to avail midday meals in schools and nutrition under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme as well as for disabled students to get scholarships is wrong and ill-conceived. The decision was notified this week and it has given the students only a few weeks to comply with it. Aadhaar has been made mandatory for 11 services under a number...