Latest news with #FSSA
Indianapolis Star
3 days ago
- Health
- Indianapolis Star
Indiana families are fighting a FSSA change. A federal appeals court just ruled in their favor
A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of two medically fragile children from Indiana and their families who are fighting changes made by the state Family and Social Services Administration to a Medicaid waiver program. Indiana Disability Rights and the ACLU of Indiana filed a lawsuit last May alleging that the state's changes to its Health and Wellness Medicaid Waiver program, which impacted parents who were providing paid care to medically complex children, went against the Americans with Disabilities Act. The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals on Aug. 11 affirmed a district court's prior preliminary injunction in favor of the families who sued. "As the district court concluded, plaintiffs have a high likelihood of succeeding on the merits of their ADA claims," according to the 50-page opinion. "Further, we find no abuse of discretion in the district court's balancing of the equities or its assessment that the public interest is best served by preserving plaintiffs' access to medically necessary care and enforcing federal antidiscrimination law." The decision doesn't apply to the whole state. It means that, for now, the two families can continue to serve as paid providers of "attendant care" for their children, according to a press release from the ACLU. Indiana Disability Rights said in a statement that the court's decision recognized the likelihood that parents would have to make an "unthinkable" decision of placing their child in an institution. 'This decision reinforces the understanding that children with complex medical needs are best served when they can remain at home with their families," said Sam Adams, senior attorney for Indiana Disability Rights. "The court found that there are steps that FSSA can and must take to help ensure these children remain safely in their families' homes.' The lawsuit stems back to the state Medicaid office's discovery in late 2023 that there was a nearly $1 billion budget shortfall, leading it to seek cost-cutting measures. The agency decided it would no longer pay for parents or spouses to care for elderly or disabled loved ones, which is the program referred to as "attendant care." FSSA later moved to a new model that pays service providers a flat daily rate and passes on some of that money to families who care for people. But the new model amounts to a steep pay cut, according to those families. The appeals court decision was, at times, scathing toward the state's arguments in the case. "To state FSSA's argument is to refute it," the decision reads at one point. At another point, the opinion states that the state has "offered only doomsday predictions" that are "difficult to reconcile with the state's apparent willingness to spend the same amount of money or more on other home-based services or to institutionalize plaintiffs and other waiver enrollees." The FSSA didn't immediately reply to IndyStar's request for comment about the impact of the federal court decision.
Time of India
25-07-2025
- Time of India
Court fines 2 for selling adulterated mustard oil in Ghaziabad
Ghaziabad: The Court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) in Ghaziabad sentenced two individuals till the rise of the court and imposed a Rs 25,000 fine each for storing and selling substandard mustard oil. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The duo was convicted under sections 51 and 59 (i) of the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA) 2006 on Thursday. The defendants pleaded guilty and requested leniency. The adulterated oil was being sold at the New Kirana Store located in the Municipal Market, Ghantaghar area. Acting on a tip-off, a team led by food safety officer Meera Singh purchased a sample of the oil from the shop on September 20, 2024, and sent it for laboratory testing. The team obtained a signature and stamp on the procured sample from the proprietor of the shop, Ansar Mallick, who informed the officials that he purchased the oil from a supplier named Mahadev Enterprises. The prosecution informed the court that the analysis report of the sample revealed that the oil was not only substandard but also unsafe for human consumption, and demanded stringent punishment for Ansari and Meena, the authorised representative of Mahadev Enterprises. The oil was manufactured by SK Oils Limited, which produced documents claiming that Mahadev Enterprises was operating under a royalty arrangement. The court imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 each under Section 51 of the FSSA for storing and selling substandard mustard oil, and a fine of Rs 5,000 each under Section 59 (i) of the Act for endangering public health.
Hindustan Times
23-07-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Consumer is king, says SC on owner details display
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to stay the Uttar Pradesh government's direction to eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display QR codes with the ownership details of the food joints, underlining that 'consumer is the king' and should be allowed to make an informed food choice. Consumer is king, says SC on owner details display A bench of justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh directed hotel owners to display their licence and registration certificate, as required under the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006, and posted the matter after two weeks for compliance of its order. 'The sentiments of devotees should not be affected. At the same time, the livelihood of shop owners should not be affected too. The court has to strike a balance,' the bench remarked. Arriving at a balance, the court was conscious that consumers need to be given the choice to decide whether they would prefer to eat from a pure-vegetarian hotel or one that serves vegetarian food during the yatra. 'We are concerned with consumers. It must be his choice. Ultimately, consumer is the king. We need to prioritise the interest of consumers,' it added. The order came as the court was hearing applications filed by Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmaker Mahua Moitra and Delhi University professor Apoorvanand Jha, challenging the Uttar Pradesh government's press note dated June 25 directing food sellers along the Kanwar Yatra route to display QR codes, containing ownership details of the eatery and other legal compliance. The petitioners argued that the regulations issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) do not permit for QR coding. They also cited a July 22, 2024 order of the top court that stayed a similar direction by the UP police last year directing the eatery owners to display their as well as their employees' names in front of the shop. The applications claimed the present order issued by the UP commissioner of Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) was an attempt to 'circumvent' the stay by introducing requirements for QR code. When senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for Jha, sought a clarification that the name of owners need not be displayed on QR code, the bench said: 'All these issues are left open. We are not going into this issue. You may challenge it before the high court. In any case it is infructuous…We are informed today is the last day of Yatra and in any case it is likely to end in near future.' It added: 'At this stage we only pass an order that all hotel owners shall comply with the mandate of displaying the licence and registration certificate as required statutorily.' The UP government, represented by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, said the requirement for QR code has been issued by the competent authority under FSSA. The state submitted that not a single affected shop owner had approached the court and questioned the right of the petitioners to challenge the state's direction. 'These devotees are highly sentimental. They would not like to have food from a shop which used to serve non-vegetarian food till a month ago using the same utensils,' Rohatgi said. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the applicants, said: 'This is all about identity politics. This is the most divisive policy to ostracise a minority community during this Yatra which alienates them. It sows the seeds of identity division, is a direct assault on secularism and is per se unconstitutional, violating right to equality, right to practice profession and right to life under Articles 14, 19(1)(g) and 21 [of Constitution].' During this time of the year, he said, all shops along the Kanwar route strictly sell only vegetarian food. 'You can boycott a food based on the menu card, not on the identity of the owner…,' Singhvi added.
News18
22-07-2025
- News18
Over 885 kg of adulterated dairy products seized in Dhanbad
Agency: PTI Last Updated: Dhanbad (Jharkhand), Jul 22 (PTI) Over 885 kg of adulterated dairy products, including 780 Kg of paneer, were seized from a bus in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district on Tuesday, an official said. The dairy products were loaded at Bakhtiyarpur in Bihar's Patna district and were scheduled to be supplied in different shops in Dhanbad, he said. The adulterated products, including 780 kg of paneer, 80 kg of Khowa, 25 kg of Peda and 25 Kg of ladoos, were seized from the bus, Dhanbad Food Safety Officer (FSO) Raja Kumar said. 'Based on a tip-off, we started special checking of buses near Puja Talkies under Sadar police station from 3 am on Tuesday. The adulterated items were being unloaded from the bus around 4 am. We seized them and conducted an on-the-spot test. All the items were found adulterated up to 60 per cent," Kumar said. The samples have been sent to the state Lab at Namkum in Ranchi for proper testing, he added. The department has also issued a notice to the bus owner for loading food items without obtaining a food supply license. 'The action would be initiated under the Food Safety Standard Act (FSSA) 2006, against the bus owner," he said. A special campaign against adulterated food items has been underway as per the directive of the Deputy Commissioner (DC) and Civil Surgeon (CS), Kumar said. PTI CORR SAN SBN SAN SBN view comments First Published: July 22, 2025, 18:15 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
The Hindu
27-06-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
Licence of food units with fake health cards to be suspended
The Health department has directed its officials as well as the Food Safety officials to conduct Statewide inspections to check the authenticity of the health cards that are issued to food handlers in hotels, catering units and other food business operations. The directive has been issued by the Health department following the suspicion that fake health certificates were issued in bulk from a laboratory to a catering unit in Pathanamthitta, according to a release on Thursday. The Health department has made it clear that the licences of food business operations will be suspended if the institution's food handlers do not have the health cards or are in possession of fake health cards. Warns doctors It has also warned doctors that they stand to lose their licence for medical practice if they are found to be issuing the health cards without the mandatory physical examination of the person concerned. The State had made it mandatory that all food handlers working in food business operations should have a health card, as stipulated under the Food Safety and Standards Authority(FSSA) Act. The government had also made Typhoid vaccine available through Karunya pharmacies at much lower rates for all food handlers going in for the health card. It is important that those handling food in restaurants and catering units undergo proper medical examination to get the health card. This is to ensure that those handling food do not have any bacterial or viral infections, which may be transmitted to others through food. The Health department insists on proper medical examination of food handlers before issuance of the health cards in order to ensure that these persons do not have any infectious diseases, or skin wounds or infections. Valid for a year A medical practitioner should examine the person physically and ensure that they do not have any apparent infections or skin diseases and that they have taken the mandated vaccines. Blood examination should be conducted to check for any infectious diseases. The medical certificate should have the signature and the seal of the doctor conducting the examination and the certificate will be valid for a year. As per the FSSA Act, these medical certificates of food handlers in the organisation should be kept in safe custody at their respective workplaces.
