Millets offer an entirely different value proposition at a time when there are concerns about a worldwide food shortage, according to S. Jaishankar, minister of external affairs, who also noted that they are considerably healthier than the everyday consumption of rice and wheat.

On Sunday, Jaishankar said India can cultivate millets, which offers a solution to the rising food demands around the world. He was speaking to members of the Indian diaspora in the capital city of Austria.

In preparation for the International Year of Millets (IYM), which started on January 1, the government announced on January 1 that it had planned a number of activities to promote millet all over the country.

“The daily cereals, rice, and wheat we consume are much less healthy for all of us than millets.” Prior to its displacement, it was the food that was most common in our societies. “Both the water and carbon footprints are significantly reduced,” Jaishankar remarked.

“In the modern world, where there is concern over food scarcity, millet presents a very different value proposition.” “Currently, one kilo of millets is farmed and consumed in India for virtually every five kg of wheat,” he said.

The Indus Valley civilization consumed millets, one of the first crops to be domesticated in India, according to a number of findings. At the moment, millet is farmed in more than 130 nations, and it is a traditional food for more than 500 million people in Asia and Africa.

“In fact, we can cultivate it.” It can meet a large portion of our rising food demands. Not just us, but also a significant number of nations in Africa, Asia, and portions of the Middle East, “On the second leg of his two-nation tour, Jaishankar, who had just arrived from Cyprus, stated.

Compared to other staples of a similar nature, millets are largely a Kharif crop in India and require less water and agricultural inputs. Millets are important because they have a huge potential to create jobs, increase farmer income, and ensure food and nutritional security around the world.

In addition, millet is a key component of the G-20 meetings, and delegates will get a full millet experience through sampling, interactions with farmers, and interactive sessions with start-ups and FPOs.

“We hope to achieve during our G20 presidency—in fact, we are doing it right now—that every foreign guest I receive in India or the Prime Minister gets in India has a significant portion of the meal that is millet-based,” Jaishankar added.

On December 6, the UN agency Food and Agriculture Organization hosted the IYM inaugural ceremony in Rome, Italy. Within the Parliamentary Complex, the Indian government sponsored a special “Millet Luncheon ” for parliamentarians.

India has given millets top priority because of their huge potential and alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. The year 2018 was subsequently proclaimed the National Year of Millets after millets were rebranded as “nutritional cereals” in April.

In order for India to remain at the forefront of the millennium-year celebrations, the UN’s designation of 2023 as IYM was crucial. In addition to presenting India as the “global hub of millets,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also discussed his goal of making IYM 2023 a “people’s movement.”

It is anticipated that between 2021 and 2026, the worldwide millets market will grow at a CAGR of 4.5%.

In the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011, the food authority has chosen to provide guidelines for the preparation and mixing of food colors.

The FSSAI has released a proposed set of regulations detailing the acceptable color preparations, as well as the diluents or fillers that can be used in such preparations.

These include: safe drinking water; table salt; sugar; dextrose monohydrate; liquid glucose; sodium sulfate; tartaric acid; glycerine; propylene glycol; acetic acid (diluted); sorbitol; citric acid; sodium carbonate; sodium hydrogen carbonate; lactose; ammonium, sodium, and potassium alginates; dextrins; ethyl acetate; starches; diethyl ether;

The proposed text defines “color preparation” as any preparation intended for use in coloring food that contains one or more of the approved food colors meeting the stipulated standard, coupled with diluents and/or filler components. It may have stabilizers and preservatives that aren’t banned. The dye mix would come in either liquid or powder form. Neither lumps nor foreign material should be present in powdered medications, and sediments shouldn’t be in liquid ones.

The draft’s General Requirements further stipulate that the total dye content, expressed as a percent by mass (m/v) in the color preparation or the mixture, shall be disclosed on the label of the container.

The declared value for powdered preparations must be calculated on a moisture-free basis, whereas the declared value for liquid preparations must be calculated on an “as in” basis. The final product can incorporate allowed preservatives and stabilizers, and the total dye content is required to be within the tolerance limits indicated on the declared value: (a) liquid preparations, 15%; (b) solid preparations, 7.5%.

Together, BASF SE Ludwigshafen, Germany, and StePac Ltd,Tefen, Israel, are developing the next generation of environmentally friendly packaging for the fresh produce industry. By giving StePac access to Ultramid Cycled, a polyamide 6 that has undergone chemical recycling, BASF will provide its partner more freedom to push contact-sensitive packaging shapes to a more environmentally friendly level within the circular economy. They specialize in creating cutting-edge functional packaging solutions, and are pioneers in using chemically recovered plastics to package perishable foods that are still fresh.  In order to use chemically recycled polyamide 6 in its flexible, modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) solutions, the company recently received REDcert2 certification.

Their two brands, Xgo and Xtend, are based on MAP technology with integrated humidity control that efficiently slows respiration inside the packaging, delays the aging processes, inhibits microbial decay, and maintains the quality and nutritional value of the product during extended storage and long-haul shipments. 30% of the packaging will be made up of Ultramid Ccycled, with the possibility of integrating it at a larger percentage.

“This cooperation will help strike a balance between making plastic packaging that is as environmentally benign as possible and keeping fresh fruit longer through more wise use of lean plastic films,” said Gary Ward, business development manager at StePac. 

Given that worldwide food waste accounts for around 8% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, these improved packaging designs will continue to play a vital role in reducing food waste.

BASF has been pioneering the recycling of plastic waste through ChemCycling. Plastic trash that would have been landfilled or utilized for energy recovery is largely recycled chemically. It enhances mechanical recycling and hastens a circular economy by producing recycled plastic fit for human use.

In a thermochemical process, our partners receive recovered feedstock from these end-of-life plastics, which is subsequently fed into the BASF Verbund, according to Dr. Dominik Winter, vice president of BASF’s European polyamides business. The raw material can be linked to certain products, like Ultramid Ccycled, using a mass balance approach. 

This promotes circularity and aids in the replacement of fossil raw materials. The range of plastics that can be recycled for fresh fruit packaging is expanded since chemically recycled plastics are just as safe and high-quality as virgin material.

The Food for Infant Nutrition Amendment Regulations, 2022, which relate to the updated limits of selenium, manganese, iron, and biotin, will go into effect in 2022, according to the FSSAI.

According to a food authority order, the Food Safety and Standards (Food for Infant Nutrition) Regulations, 2020, are in effect as of October 1, 2022, and the updated limits for selenium, manganese, iron, and biotin must also be implemented in compliance with the applicable Act’s provisions. The order states that the decision has been made to operationalize the FSS (Food for Infant Nutrition) Amendment Regulations, 2022, effective October 1, 2022.

The limitations for these nutrients were established under the Amendment Regulations of 2022, where the limits for selenium were set at 5–40 mcg (micrograms) for requirements per 100 g and 1–8.5 mcg for requirements per 100 kcal in the regulations numbers 7, 8, and 9 and 10 and 11, respectively.

The limit for iron in Regulation 9 has also been set at 0.42-1.20 mg for every 100 kcal need and 2-5.65 mg for every 100 g requirement. The limit for manganese is established at 5–500 mcg and 1–106.40 mcg per 100 g and 100 kcal, respectively, while the limit for biotin is set at 7.50–50 mcg and 1.60–10 mcg.

The FSSAI states that the limitations for these nutrients were changed in response to industry associations’ complaints about the challenges associated with manufacturing and reformulating infant food products while maintaining the required level of these trace elements.

The transition period for the 2020 FSS (Food for Infant Nutrition) Regulations’ implementation had already been extended by the FSSAI until October 1, 2022.

On Thursday, December 15, Reliance Consumer Products, the FMCG arm of Reliance Retail Ventures and a wholly owned subsidiary, launched the Independence brand of consumer packaged goods made in India. The launch took place in Gujarat.

The brand will sell  different kinds of products, such as staples, processed foods, and other things that people need every day. As it gets ready to roll out the brand across the country, the company wants to make Gujarat a “go-to-market” state. This will help the company’s FMCG business do its job well. The company is working with trade partners like manufacturers and kirana stores to make high-quality products and give them more business opportunities. In the next few months, the company plans to speed up the launch so that FMCG retailers all over Gujarat can take part.

“I am happy to announce that our own FMCG brand, Independence, is now available,” said Ms. Isha Ambani, director of Reliance Retail Ventures. “It has a wide range of high-quality and affordable products, such as edible oils, pulses, grains, packaged foods, and other items that people need every day.” “The brand stands for ‘truly Indian solutions for real Indian problems,’ which is written as ‘Kan Kan Mein Bharat,’ which makes Indians feel emotionally connected and gives them a sense of belonging.

Reliance Retail Ventures is a branch of Reliance Industries and the parent company of all the retail businesses in the RIL group. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, RRVL runs more than 16,500 of its own stores and works with more than 2 million merchants in grocery, electronics, apparel, pharmacy, lingerie, home and furnishing, beauty, and personal care. Through Jio Mart, Ajio, Netmeds, Zivame, and other online channels, it also runs the largest omni-channel business network. For the year ending March 31, 2022, it had a consolidated turnover of Rs 199,704 crore ($26.3 billion) and a net profit of Rs 7,055 crore ($931 million).

On the BSE, shares of Reliance Industries went up 0.71 percent to Rs 2597 following the news.

The Indian food authority, FSSAI, has made the FSS (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Amendment Regulations, 2021, which limits the amount of naturally occurring formaldehyde in freshwater and saltwater fish, work again.

The FSSAI order says, “These draft regulations were notified, and final regulations are likely to take some more time before they are notified and enforced.” Keeping in mind the public health interest and to ensure food safety and fair practices in the operations of food businesses, it has been decided to re-operationalize the provisions of these regulations with effect from September 13, 2022, and ask food businesses to follow these provisions.

According to the rules, the fish were put into four groups, and the amount of formaldehyde in each group was limited.

Group 1 includes all marine species that are finfishes, such as Barracuda, Billfish, Bombay Duck, Bullseyes, Catfish, Croakers, Eels, File Fishes and Puffers, Flat Fishes, Goatfishes, Groupers (Rock Cods), Half Beaks and Full Beaks, Horse Mackerel, Leather Jacket (Queen Fish), Mackerel, Mullets, and Other Carangids.

Group II is made up of freshwater fish, such as finfish, crustaceans, and mollusks. This group includes Indian major carps, minor carps, exotic carps, freshwater catfishes, snakeheads and Murrells, tilapia, trout, and all other freshwater fin fishes.

Formaldehyde can’t be more than 4.0 mg/kg in either Group I or Group II.

Group III is made up of marine species like lizard fishes and any other marine fishes not in Group I. The limit for formaldehyde in Group III is 8 mg/kg, while the limit for formaldehyde in Group IV is 100 mg/kg for all frozen marine fish products.

The regulations said that the limits could be changed based on data collected during different seasons and in different parts of the world, as well as on the analysis and advice of the scientific panel as needed. For fish and fish products from the sea that are not in Groups I or II, the limit for naturally occurring formaldehyde is 100 ppm.

The FSSAI made these rules about how much naturally occurring formaldehyde is allowed in freshwater and marine fish. They went into effect on February 10, 2020, and will be put back into effect in August 2020, November 2020, September 2021, and May 2022.