Now they'll tell you if your ice cream is non-veg

Now they'll tell you if your ice cream is non-veg
NIRMALA GEORGE

NEW DELHI, MAY 31: Vegetarians can rejoice. In a short while, they will beable to tell whether the ice cream they are eating or the biscuit they arebiting into, is one hundred per cent shakahari.

All packaged foods that contain any non-vegetarian ingredient will have tocarry a distinctive logo indicating whether it contains any non-vegetarianingredient.

In a notice issued last week, the Union Health Ministry has amended thePrevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) rules making it mandatory for allpacked food products to carry the special logo.

While most countries require packaged food manufacturers to label theingredients, and in some countries the nutritive value of each serving of afood item, India is the first country to go for the ``non-vegetarian''labelling.

The logo is in the form of a red-coloured circle with a single chord runningdiagonally across its centre. The symbol has to be prominently displayed onall food packages, along with the name of the food item and alladvertisements in the media, pamphlets or about the product would have tocarry the symbol.

Manufacturers of packaged foods have been given time till November 17, 2000to get their labels in place, when the provisions of the PFA come intoeffect.

Health Ministry officials say that in a predominantly vegetarian country,such labelling would help allay doubts in people about what they are eating.Currently packaged foods items have to carry labels indicating their mainingredients.

According to PFA rules, ``non-vegetarian food'' is defined as an article offood, which contains whole or part of any animal, including birds,fresh-water or marine animals or eggs as an ingredient. However,micronutrients and enzymes have been excluded from the new regime. So farthere have not been any adverse reaction from the packaged food industry,says D S Chaddha, Adviser (Technical) at the Confederation of IndianIndustry (CII). The CII had sent out a circular earlier this year to alltheir members involved in the packaged food business, informing them aboutthe impending labelling requirement, and asking them to send in theirsuggestions or objections.

The poultry association has reportedly raised objections, saying thatnon-fertilised eggs should not be clubbed with non-vegetarian items.``Culturally eggs are viewed as a non-vegetarian item. Also it would bevirtually impossible to differentiate between a non-fertilised or regularegg,'' said Chaddha.