Food safety and quality control: Best practices in the Indian Armed Forces

Abstract

The Army Marches on its Stomach". To provide nutritious, wholesome, safe and quality food to the large Indian Armed Forces, spread over various terrains, ranging from the icy Himalayas to the burning deserts of Rajasthan or the humid jungles of the North East and over various platforms like tanks, ships and aircraft is a challenge. The major issue in this is to procure and supply the food while ensuring that it is safe and retains its quality till it is cooked. This vital part of the supply chain viz from farm to the military cook house is the responsibility of the Army Service Corps (ASC) supported by the Army Medical Corps (AMC) and the Remount and Veterinary Corps (RVC). The Food Inspection Organization of the ASC lays down the best practices to be followed in terms of inspection, sampling, analysis, dispatch and issue of both fresh and processed edible foodstuff. The Armed Forces have their own network of Composite Food Laboratories for sampling and analysis of the food items. To ensure superior quality the Defence Food Specifications are much higher than legislated by the Food Standards and Safety Authority of India (FSSAI) for the general public. This paper highlights the best practices followed to ensure food safety and quality control in the Indian Armed Forces.

Introduction

‘An army marches on its stomach’.¹ The Indian Armed Forces operate in varied terrains and hostile weather conditions varying from the icy heights of the world's highest battlefield to the marshy humid jungles of North-Eastern India or the dry extreme heat conditions of the Thar Desert. In addition, they have numerous platforms for operations be it the Special Forces conducting surgical strikes, the tank crew moving at a menacing pace, the supersonic jets of the air force or the submarines in the depths of the oceans. Therefore, providing nutritious, wholesome, safe and quality food in all these theatres remains a major logistic challenge.

A study on a sample size of 53203 personnel of the three services regarding satisfaction levels with rations concluded that the majority were satisfied with the supply of rations and food being served in their cook houses.² The major challenge in this is to procure and supply the food while ensuring that it is safe and retains its quality until it is cooked. This vital part of the supply chain, namely, from the farm to the military cook house, is the responsibility of the Army Service Corps (ASC), supported by the Army Medical Corps (AMC) and the Remount and Veterinary Corps (RVC).

The Indian Army procures its foodstuffs from the civilian vendors and manufacturers through a transparent bidding system. The responsibility of provisioning, procurement, contract operation and quality control is that of the Directorate General of Supply and Transport under the Quartermaster General's Branch.

Army Food Inspection Organisation

The quality control of foodstuffs in India is regulated by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). However, FSSAI only lays down minimum standards to be followed so that the food is fit for human consumption. Owing to considerations of operations, terrain peculiarities, extreme climatic conditions and prolonged storage periods, the norms of the Armed Forces have to be superior as compared with FSSAI guidelines.³ The army has its own Food Inspection Organisation (FIO) consisting of ASC officers including defence food analysts (DFAs), the community medicine specialist of the AMC and microbiologist of the RVC to formulate policies and monitor quality control of edible items procured. The organisation has Composite Food Laboratories (CFLs) headed by ASC officers and located in all regions of the country. The headquarters of the FIO is at Delhi. The FIO functions under the control of the Director General Supply and Transport (DGST).

The DGST has a supply management group that includes the verticals of provisioning, procurement, contract operation and the FIO. This is a cohesive group which ensures that synergy is maintained and timelines of procurement and despatch without compromising on quality are met.

Defence food specifications

As already highlighted, the defence food specifications (DFSs) have to be highly elaborate and more exhaustive and comprehensive as compared with those laid down by FSSAI (Table 1, Table 2, Table 3, Table 4, Table 5).³ In certain cases, such as meals ready to eat (MRE) or survival rations specific to the Armed Forces, no FSSAI guidelines exist. Therefore, a comprehensive exercise based on current evidence-based food technology is undertaken to formulate the DFS. This is carried out by the technical standardisation committee that comprises eminent civilian experts in the field of food technology from reputed national institutes, representatives of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, manufacturers and commerce associations among others.

Table 1.

Comparison between DFSs and FSSAI standards for atta.

Parameter	DFS	FSSAI	Remarks
Moisture	<11%	<14%	Lesser the moisture, more the shelf life.
Gluten	>9.0%	>6.0%	Higher gluten content indicates better elasticity of dough and more protein content.
Alcoholic acidity	<0.1%	<0.18%	A higher reading indicates atta is old.
Granularity	<0.2%	–	Indicates good and uniform milling
Acid-insoluble ash	<0.1%	<0.15%	Indicates high inorganic matter such as dirt and sand
Crude fibre	<2.5%	–	Hard material

DFS, Defence Food Specification; FSSAI, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

Table 2.

Comparison between DFSs and FSSAI standards for refined sunflower oil.

Parameter	DFS	FSSAI	Remarks
Moisture	<0.1%	<0.1%	–
Colour in 2.5-cm cell on the Lovibond scale	<5.0%	–	Indicates quality of refining
Refractive index at 40 °C	1.4640–1.4800	1.4674–1.4689	Characteristic of specific oil
Saponification value	188–194	186–196	Gives fatty acid chain length
Unsaponified matter	<1.5%	<1.5%
Iodine value	100–140	135–148	Gives unsaturated fatty acid levels
Acid value	<0.3	<0.5	Indicates free fatty acid content that relates to rancidity
Added colouring matter	Nil	Nil
Test for mineral oil	Negative	Negative	Adulterant
Test for argemone oil	Negative	Negative	Adulterant

DFS, Defence Food Specification; FSSAI, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

Table 3.

Comparison between DFSs and FSSAI standards for tea.

Parameter	DFS	FSSAI	Remarks
Total ash	<6.5%	4–8%	Indicates inorganic matter
Total ash soluble in boiling water	>60%	>45%	Indicates organic matter
Ash soluble in HCl	<0.25%	<1%	Indicates inorganic matter insoluble in HCl
Water extract	>38%	>32%	Indicates quantity of tea extract
Crude fibre	<10%	<16.5%	Hard substance (matured tea leaves/stem and so on)
Caffeine	>3%	–	Stimulant and imparts briskness
Tannin	>7.5%	–	Imparts colour and an astringent

DFS, Defence Food Specification; FSSAI, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

Table 4.

Comparison between DFSs and FSSAI standards for jam.

Parameter	DFS	FSSAI	Remarks
Total solids	>68%	>65%	Indicates content of fruit pulp including pectin
Sulphur dioxide content	<10 ppm	<40 ppm	Preservative
Total sugar	55–65%	–	Sucrose including added sugar
Acidity as malic acid	<1.8%	–	Higher acidity makes jam's taste sour
Heavy metals (ppm)	Lead <2.5 Copper<30 Zinc<50 Tin<250 Arsenic<1		Heavy metal poisoning

DFS, Defence Food Specification; FSSAI, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

Table 5.

Comparison between DFSs and FSSAI standards for coffee.

Parameter	DFS	FSSAI	Remarks
Moisture	<3.5%	<4%	Enhances shelf life and flavour
Total ash	<12%	<12%
Caffeine	>2.8%	>2.8%

DFS, Defence Food Specification; FSSAI, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

Defence food analyst

ASC officers holding postgraduate degrees in the field of food technology, chemistry, biotechnology or microbiology and having worked in the FIO for a period of three years undergo an examination at the FIO. On clearing the same, they are designated as DFAs who are authorised to give verdicts as per the DFS on all food items issued to troops as per a legal mandate given by the Director General of Health Services.

Inspection of manufacturing premises and godowns

To ensure traceability, the supply of most food items is obtained directly from the manufacturers. Only in case of aggregated supplies such as pulses and rice, traders are permitted to supply. The CFLs carry out technical inspection of the premises of the manufacturer and the godowns to ensure that all food production, packing and storage parameters are met.⁴ All mandatory certifications such as industry, FSSAI and pollution control licences are checked along with the infrastructure for in-house quality control. The FSSAI certification for a plant or godown is based on self-certification by the vendor who applies online. Rarely is the inspection conducted by FSSAI as they have a huge resource crunch of manpower. Therefore, it becomes obligatory for the FIO to conduct this technical inspection to ensure that the plant can produce food items as per hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) and other parameters and also has the capacity to supply adequate quantities. These are essential preventive strategies to ensure a successful food safety programme.5, 6

In addition, the premises undergo a hygiene inspection conducted by a community medicine specialist of the AMC. This entails thorough inspection of the hygiene of the plant as per FSSAI guidelines. Medical examination and vaccination records of the workers, chemical and bacteriological reports of water samples and records of plant cleanliness are scrutinised in depth. The periodicity of this hygiene inspection is twice a year, as compared with an annual inspection mandated by FSSAI.³

The Indian Railways has a large commercial vendor base from which it procures raw material and packaged stuff for in-house pantry cars run by them. In addition, it licenses numerous hawkers and food stalls that sell edibles at railway stations. However, unlike the Armed Forces, the Indian Railways do not conduct a technical and hygiene inspection of the premises from which the materials are procured. The reliance purely on FSSAI certification has its perils as discussed already. Thus, the Armed Forces system in this aspect is more robust. However, there is one sphere wherein we can learn from the Indian Railways. Drawing from the legal mandate given by FSSAI to the Indian Railways and the Armed Forces to appoint their own food safety officers, the Indian Railways has appointed its own officers as food safety officers.³ This ensures that they are not dependent on the limited resources of FSSAI for day-to-day certifications. The Armed Forces need to consider appointing their own food safety officers to give more teeth to their quality control staff.

The UN Missions supply chain also works similar to Indian Railways and relies on the certification given by the civil licensing authority of the respective nations for supply of edible stuff.

Sampling of items for testing at the Composite Food Laboratories (CFL)

A laboratory report is of operational use only if it is of the representative sample of food that is finally to be eaten by the soldier. Hence, sampling of the food item from the premises of the plant is a vital cog in quality control of foodstuffs. CFLs are responsible for drawing representative samples of food items from vendor premises, seal the stores tendered, issue verdict and thereafter ensure despatch to field supply units. This is to synchronise quality control and slippages in supply management. Bulk inspection officers (BIOs) are ASC officers posted to CFLs and are trained in drawing representative samples of a specified size by a statistically consistent technique. The Armed Forces ensure that a representative sample of all food items is tested in their laboratories before supply unlike the Indian Railways and FSSAI who only draw random samples from the vendors.

Testing at the Food inspection organization (FIO)

Samples collected by the BIOs are tested at the CFL. The FIO laboratories are equipped with state-of-the-art equipment to conduct tests in an objective manner akin to a regional food laboratory. Physical, chemical, microbiological and organoleptic tests are conducted on samples. In case of rejection, the vendor can prefer an appeal to the appellate laboratory (akin to a national food laboratory) at the headquarters of the FIO, whose verdict is final. In case of fit despatches, the receiving field supply unit also draws a sample called the control sample, which is sent to the FIO. Supplies to peripheral units are only done if the control sample is declared fit. This acts as a deterrent to any unscrupulous vendors who may harbour notions of changing the despatched foodstuffs en route from their plant to the field supply unit.

Moreover, the appellate laboratory monitors quality by testing random and complaint samples from field units during the warranty period of the product. Vendors are penalised for failure.

Research and development

The Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) in Mysore is the nodal agency for creating specialised food requirements of the forces. The FIO is an active contributor to research and development, entailing stringent trials for taste, convenience, robustness and food safety.

Frozen and chilled chicken and meat

Until recently, fresh meat and chicken were provided to the troops by slaughter from ASC butchers located at the military stations. However, with strict pollution control norms in vogue, continuing with them became unviable. Besides, frozen and chilled meat technology has grown by leaps and bounds in the civil sector in India. Thus, the government has taken a decision to procure frozen/chilled meat/chicken for the troops with effect from this year and close down the army butchers. Only plants having integrated slaughter and processing-cum-packing facility are permitted to supply to ensure safety. The whole carcass is to be packed so that traceability of the animal slaughtered is ensured. In addition, specifications of transport vans, the data logger for maintaining temperature en route and core temperature checks at delivery points are ensured. A DFRL field testing kit that checks microbial load has been developed and issued to supply units. Elaborate quality control instructions are in place. In the plants that are given contracts for supply of tinned meat, an RVC officer does ante-mortem and postmortem examination of the animals before the processing of the meat.

Procurement of fresh rations and condiments

The DFS for fresh items is prepared deliberately to achieve a harmonised standard comparable with off-the-shelf products in supermarkets but simultaneously available through a local vendor at the remotest stations. There is adequate flexibility in the choice of vegetables and fruits to be procured based on seasonal variation and local market availability. The station commander is responsible for monitoring the quality of perishables procured by the supply depots, which is carried out through unit feedback and inspection by nominated officers. Condiments are largely compensated by a cash allowance and, if procured, are primarily of the whole spice variety to ensure minimal adulteration. The local flexibility for procurement of fresh rations ensures that there is adequacy of supply both in peace and operations.

Coordination with FSSAI

The FIO was established in the pre-independence era to ensure quality rations to soldiers. Therefore, its procedures are time tested. The quality control mechanism in the civil under the aegis of the erstwhile Prevention of Food Adulteration Act 1954 and the current FSSAI Act 2006 came up much later. The FIO is rendering its expertise in food testing to FSSAI by organising ‘Good Food Laboratory Practices’ workshops for FSSAI-nominated laboratory scientists. Besides, the FIO officers are also in various committees of the Bureau of Indian Standards. These ensure civil military interoperability by sharing of best practices.

Training of cook house staff and monitoring hygiene

Ensuring that palatable, tasty and hygienically prepared food is consumed by troops is a unit commander's responsibility. It is ensured that all aspects of food hygiene are maintained from kitchen to fork. The chefs undergo a scientifically designed programme as part of basic training, and regular cadres are held to upgrade their culinary skills. Emphasis is laid on cook house hygiene, and elaborate instructions and orders on the same exist in the three services.⁷ These instructions include details to ensure potable water, safe waste disposal, good storage practices, maintenance of equipment, pest control, medical examination of cooks, disposal of leftover food, safety of ice, food testing and so on in every military cook house. These orders are on par with those prescribed by FSSAI and international standards.⁸ The instructions with respect to food safety in kitchens in all three services, namely, Army, Navy and Air Force, comprehensively cover the procedures as per HACCP. For surveillance, the duty officers are mandated to check these aspects on a daily basis, in addition to the Garrison field officer who submits a report to the station commander.

The Indian Army cook houses function as a participative institution of the unit. The troops assist the chefs who are their comrades in uniform, and hence, the sense of belonging is more domestic than commercial. Unlike the Indian Railways or any other organisation, the contractor's role is limited to supplying the rations, and the contractor has no contact with the end user.

Conclusion

Synergy between the ASC, AMC and RVC has ensured that the food safety, nutrition and quality standards of the Indian Armed Forces are among the best. They take care of this right from the farm to the palate of the soldier, air warrior and sailor. No wonder cases of malnutrition or food poisoning among the troops are an extremely rare occurrence.

Disclosure of competing interest

The author has none to declare.