Amendments to Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1955

New Delhi, July 21 (UNI) The Union Government has issued a draft notification proposing amendment of Rule 4 of the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Rules, 1955 relating to the adoption of the methods of analysis of food articles.

It is proposed that in case where the method prescribed in the manuals brought out by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) for public analysts or Directors of Central Food Laboratories, is not sophisticated or if the method is not available for analysis of any parameters in these manuals, the method of analysis prescribed in the AOAC/ISO/Pearsons/JaCOB/IUPAC/Food Chemical Codex Method of Analysis/BIS/Woodmen/Winton-Winton/Joslyn should be adopted.

The major amendment in the format to these forms carried out proposes that the Public Analysts and the Director, Central Food Laboratories (CFL) will have to write the name of method of test used for analysis of any parameters.

The DGHS has already issued nine volumes of the manuals of method analysis for various food products, which were updated, providing alternate sophisticated analysis method through various sophisticated equipment.

Objections or suggestions within 60 days on the professed draft rules have been invited by the Department of Health in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to the notification published in Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i) of the Gazette of India (Extraordinary) vide GSR No. 299 (E) dated 18.05.2006.

The notification is available on the website of the Health and Family Welfare Ministry at "http://www.mohfw.nic.in/pfa.htm".

Responses, if any, on the draft rules, may be sent to the Secretary, Department of Health, Ministry of Health&Family Welfare, Government of India, Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi-110001 within the stipulated time period.

Under Section 23 (1-A) (hh) of the PFA Act, 1954, the Central Government has been empowered to define the method of analysis for food products under PFA Rules, 1955.

Forms II and III of Appendix A of the PFA Rules, 1955 are used by the Public Analyst and Director, CFL for reporting the results of analysis.

At its meeting held in October 2005, the CCFS had recommended that the reference of these manuals be made in the PFA Rules, 1955, so that the Public Analysts and Director, CFL could adopt all the manuals of method of analysis compulsorily while analysing the samples of food articles from time to time under PFA Rules, 1955.

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