The stupid pesticide in illiterate hands

India will establish a food safety agency by the end of the year that will set stricter standards and institute recall procedures in a country where many now fear their food is not fit to eat.

The country jump-started the process of overhauling its food laws -- at least 10 by one count -- after an environmental group found pesticides in Coca-Cola and Pepsi soft drinks bottled in India four years ago.

The findings prompted worries about wider food contamination and saw the Indian parliament pass a new overarching food safety law last year to create an agency along the lines of the US Food and Drug Administration.

"It will be a kind of a regulatory body that will ensure human health and safety and a level playing field for trade practices," Debasish Panda, an Indian health official handling food safety, told AFP.

"We expect this by the end of calendar year in functional form."

The agency will set standards for pesticides, additives, supplements, organic food and hygiene for locally produced and imported food.

The group behind the Coke and Pepsi study views the new law as a victory for its efforts, which saw the global soft drink makers singled out in 2003 in order to show the widespread prevalence of pesticides in Indian water.

"The study took the bull by the horns," said Chandra Bhushan, associate director of the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment.

"Since the 1980s we have talked about the pesticide problem. We looked at the track record of the studies done and everyone looked at commodities for which there was no political mileage."

The organisation followed up the 2003 study with fresh testing of the drinks last year, and found that Coca-Cola and Pepsi drinks made in India still contained higher than acceptable pesticide traces.

The fact that "even the biggest and best brand has pesticides" said Bhushan, was a worrying commentary on the state of India's 100-billion-dollar food market, about a third of which is processed foods.

-- Contaminated food --

India uses about 30,000 tons of pesticides a year, more than 60 percent of it on food crops. Environmentalists say the excessive use of pesticides has affected soil, water and food in India.

But no one one knows for sure the truth of the claims or counter-claims, while both Coke and Pepsi have said their Indian products are safe to drink.

Food testing is minimal, with even labs in the capital New Delhi collecting less than half the number of samples they are required to test each month. Many samples are thrown out without testing because of spoilage.

Pesticide residue data from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, showed that until about 2000, 20 percent of all fruit, vegetables and milk had levels that exceeded current standards.

An official with the agricultural agency warned that their research had limited bearing on the national food market, but added that more recent testing found reduced residues.

"Instances of contamination as well as residue records are very low. The picture is very different now," said T.P. Rajendran.

Food sellers and producers said having a single law in place of a dozen was a good idea in theory, but worried it would be hard for them to meet stricter standards.

"It's not yet clear," said Tushar Mehra, 26, who runs popular New Delhi bakery chain Angels in My Kitchen.

"I have to bake particular things and I know the ingredients and if according to the act those ingredients should not be used any more, that will affect the product and that will affect my sales."

-- Farmers beyond control? --

Some of the more stringent requirements -- for example, using clean water -- are not entirely within the control of food processors, said an industry body.

"They have put the onus on having potable water on the food processor," said Sameer Barde, director of the food wing of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

"If you have contamination in the water in your product, the processor is to blame. But he's not the one putting pesticides into the water. So how can they ensure clean water?"

Most strangely, for fresh foods like fruit and vegetables, the law's standards only take effect once they have left the farm and entered the marketplace.

"It is very difficult to regulate farm produce and traceability is a problem," explained the environmental group's Bhushan.

That exemption has led some to question how effective the law can be if farmers will not have to ensure that their harvests meet the new standards.

"Contamination of all natural resources with chemical pesticide residues because of faulty and hazardous agricultural technologies at the farming level is often ignored," said a recent German-funded study by the south India-based Centre for Sustainable Agriculture.

"Without solving the basic problem, no amount of standard setting at the consumption level is going to solve the problem."

Retail and Strong Supply Chain

The Indian retail market -- one of India's fastest growing industries -- is expected to grow from US$ 350 billion to US$ 427 billion by 2010. According to Euromonitor International, the Indian Retail market will grow in value terms by a total of 39.6 per cent between 2006 and 2011, averaging growth of almost 7 per cent a year.

Modern retail accounts for about 4 per cent of the total retail market in India. This share is expected to increase to about 15 -20 per cent with the entry of a number of corporates into the segment. Modern retail formats have grown by 25-30 per cent in India in the last year and could be worth US$ 175-200 billion by 2016.

Food dominates the shopping basket in India. The US$ 6.1 billion Indian foods industry, which forms 44 per cent of the entire FMCG sales, is growing at 9 per cent and has set the growth agenda for modern trade formats. The prospect for growth of the branded segment is huge, as nearly 60 per cent of the average Indian grocery basket still comprises non-branded items.

Of the 12 million retail outlets (which is the largest in the world), over 5 million sell food and related products. Some of the large players in this market are Kishore Biyani’s Food Bazaar, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Fresh, Godrej Agrovet, the Aditya Birla Group, and the Tata Group (which acquired 70 per cent stake in Innovative Foods from the Amalgam Group) among others.

India’s large consumer base along with export potential and reforms in agriculture (such as opening up of many agriculture sectors for 100 per cent FDI, allowing farmers to sell their produce directly to buyers) have attracted a large number of corporates into the agricultural retail segment.

• For its e-Choupal scheme, ITC built internet kiosks in villages to provide farmers access to latest information on weather, market prices and foods in demand among other things.
• With a US$ 5.6 billion, multi-year investment in agriculture and retail, Reliance Retail will establish links with farms on several thousand acres in Punjab, West Bengal and Maharashtra.
• FieldFresh, planning to become India's first large-scale exporter of produce, will annually pay farmers over US$ 30,000 to lease land for vegetables, to hire tractors and to pay their workers.
• PepsiCo, with agriculture exports worth US$ 40 million, has launched a five-year program with the Punjab Government to provide several hundred farmers with four million sweet-orange trees for its Tropicana juices by 2008. It has also introduced farmers to high-yielding basmati rice, mangoes, potatoes, chillies, peanuts and barley for its Frito-Lay snacks.
• Fresh@, a food and grocery retail initiative of Heritage Foods (India) Ltd, is in the process of developing a 5,000-acre cluster farming complex to feed the retail network that will have 100 stores in the next few months.
• Kishore Biyani’s Future Group runs Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar, one of the most popular retail chains in India.

It is some serious money in the food market in India. But asking the question to myself are we ready yet to cater to such business. No synchronized supply chains or cold chain. How will this retail industry stand up on its own? There is an urgency for supply/cold chains in India and in the coming years we are goin to have global positioning system as well. The Times of India could not think of using GPS in supply chains this is what they had to say

These can be used to identify position and velocity in real time based on ranging arrangements. Access to the GPS-type system has important advantages in managing traffic, roadways and ports. It is also an important tool for police and security agencies to track stolen vehicles or those being driven by criminals. It has implications for national disaster warning and will be useful in commercial transactions dealing with sale and exchange of geographical and economic data.-- Times of India 29 Jan 2007

well they are right to some extent. It can be used in traffic, ports bla bla bla but hey -- what about using it in cold chain and supply chains to carry perishable commodities for one part of the country to another. and we will exactly know the exact second the commodities will be delivered. Companies can track their trucks real time and can give exact time for the time of delivery. Well just scroll down the to the hyperlink I have attached just to see how effective cold chains are and goods can be transported not only some 100 miles but across the country.

to see it bigger just follow the link http://www.smart-trace.com/images/stdiagram.gif

Poultry Industry In US, Juxtaposed with the Indian Market

USA

In America’s poultry industry today, family farmers work with production and processing companies to provide consumers with tasty, nutritious, and economical food. Poultry is the number-one protein purchased by American consumers, at more than 100 pounds per year for every man, woman and child. Clearly the poultry industry is selling what America wants.

The meat and poultry industry employs millions of people, directly and indirectly, from small town farms and rural production facilities to retail centers and distribution operations in cities and suburbs across the country.

• Today, independent farmers working under contract with integrated chicken and turkey production and processing companies produce the vast majority of chickens and turkeys raised for human consumption in the United States.

• The system provides many farmers an additional source of income outside crop farming. For 40 years, the system has kept tens of thousands of families on small farms who otherwise would have had to leave agriculture altogether.

• A typical farm will gross about $50,000 to $75,000 per year from poultry (about $25,000 per house). In fact, the system works so well, most companies have waiting lists of people who want to become growers and lists of existing farmers who want to add capacity by building
more houses.

Contribution to U.S. Economy:

Agriculture is the largest sector of the U.S. economy - responsible for 2.5 percent of our gross domestic product, according to USDA's Economic Research Service. And as the largest part of that sector, the meat and poultry industries contribute mightily to the U.S. economy Jobs, domestic sales and exports all help drive the U.S. economy.


INDIA

Poultry is one of the fastest growing segments of the agricultural sector in India today. While the production of agricultural crops has been rising at a rate of 1.5 to 2 percent per annum, that of eggs and broilers has been rising at a rate of 8 to 10 percent per annum. As a result, India is now the world's fifth largest egg producer and the eighteenth largest producer of broilers. Driving this expansion are a combination of factors - growth in per capita income, a growing urban population and falling real poultry prices.

Exports of poultry products from India comprise table eggs, meat, live birds and value-added products such as egg powder and frozen yolk. The value of aggregated exports was Rs. 1,683 million in 1996-97. Exports were expected to reach the level of Rs. 5 billion by the year 2000.

Even though India is the world's fifth largest egg producer and the eighteenth largest producer of broilers, its per capita consumption of these products is poor - 37 eggs and 1 kg. of poultry meat per capita per annum. Here, again, there is considerable variation in per capita consumption between rural and urban areas and also across the region. Per capita consumption of eggs is only 7.7 per annum in rural areas compared with 17.8 per annum in urban areas. In seven states, per capita consumption is less than 3.5 per annum. Similarly, per capita consumption of poultry meat is 0.24 kg. in rural areas and 1.08 kg. in urban areas.

The structure of India's poultry industry varies from region to region. While independent and relatively small-scale producers account for the bulk of production, integrated large-scale producers do account for a growing share of output in some regions. Integrators include large regional firms that incorporate all aspects of production, including the raising of grandparent and parent flocks, rearing DOCs, contracting production, compounding feed, providing veterinary services, and wholesaling.

Current Food Market Of India

The growing Indian Food Market with a rate of 8% annually, making it the largest untapped industry alone in India is one of the reason I choose FST as my major. There are not many players in Indian food market. To name some leaders in India it would be ITC, UB group(liquor), Pepsico India and the coca cola co etc. All the products we see in the Indian retail outlets are just a copy of major preservation techniques used in the developed countries. The content is changed the packaging is the same. The leader in packaging industry is no doubt Tetra Pack(we use it every day but still don't realize that we just used a tetra pack and throw it in the bin).
The most recent concept copied form the US and other developed countries is the concept of retail outlets like Wal-Mart and K-Mart in US and Tesco in Europe. Well I predicted, there is going to be trouble when the idea came into existence. Indian is not a monopolistic economy unlike US and UK. Farming and retailing is one occupation still practiced by a majority of the population. Already the farmers were committing suicides, and with the coming of these retail outlets has just elevated the situation. Reliance fresh stores are already facing a lot of opposition in many populated states. the recent news was that reliance laid over 900 people in Uttar Pradesh(UP). The Mayawati government were skeptical about the hundreds and thousands of jobs which will be at stake if the retail chain opens or may be the government was not paid properly by reliance. Similarly protest were observed in Jharkhand and West Bengal. All of these states are major crop producers in India.
the question that arises now is, why did the marketing of the newly opened reliance outlet did not work in these states I would call it miscalculation and poor strategy. Exclude the 10 big metropolitan cities. Then what went wrong in the small and upcoming cities which saw so much protest that reliance had to wind up their business from these states.
The answer is quiet simple.

• People still prefer getting the groceries delivered at their doorstep.

• Retail outlets should set up small shops in every locality so that the retailers don't go out of business and they are franchised by the retail stores to sell their specific product.

• Contract farming at a large scale would have improved the quality and quantity of the product. This way the farmers will not lose their livelihood & their crop will be under apt supervision.

• There are no well defined veg and non-veg sections in the retail outlets. This did withdrew the vegetarian customers from the scene. There should be demarcated and distinct veg and non-veg sections within the facility.

The next rapidly growing industry is the packaged 'Ready to Eat' food and the newly formulated instant gravy for almost all the curries. the business has expanded rapidly and is giving desired results. The preservation techniques are same that are used in US, but the content of the pack has been changed as mentioned previously.

Introduction and About Me

Hey everyone out there. This is Priyam Asthana, a senior at Virginia Tech doing my bachelors in food science and technology(FST) with a minor in business. This blog is specifically started to notice the processed and packaged food trends in US, UK, Canada , South Americas and Australia and applying those concepts to the Asian subcontinent specifically India. These concepts cannot be applied directly as India is not a monopolistic economy like most of the west. The Indian market is diverse and quiet blended with developing lifestyle and culture. This blog has nothing to do with cooking food or finding new microwave recipes. As we say it in Virginia Tech (VT) "We are food scientist we don't cook we formulate food".