Rajiv Gandhi Environmental Literacy Drive.

An ambitious environmental programme was handed over by the Chairperson of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) Mrs.Sonia Gandhi to Dr. M. C. Saxena, Executive Director, Environmental Research Laboratory (ERL) on November 17, 1993 amidst a simple but impressive ceremony. The Rajiv Gandhi Environmental Literacy Drive (RGELD), as it has been named, is the first of its kind in the country and chose Lucknow for the pilot scale novel experiments. Mrs.Sonia Gandhi handed over the keys of a highly sophisticated, Mobile Van (equipped with the scientific gadgets) to Dr. Saxena, to study and combat the environmental problems in the city and create awareness among school children and the youth to ultimately turn then into Environmental Service Volunteers (ESVs).
    RGELD  is a massive environmental educational programme which plans to take the message of late Indian Prime Minister Shri.Rajiv Gandhi, to the educational institutions and the exercise has already begun to rope in children in this mission of the foundation.
    UNDER the programme, education, and intensive training exercise to about 1800 school children has been planned with the Rani Lakshmi Bai of Lucknow obtaining the training for its fifty enthusiastic students. This was followed by consecutive batches from Jaipuria School, Army Public School, Mahanagar Boys College, Janta Inter College, Hoerner High School, Hajarilal Junior High School, DAV College and Loreto Convent. Other schools are likely to follow with their batches soon.
    The Module: During the course the participating students undergo a comprehensive 8 days programme module. The module developed by a trained and skilled staff under the RGELD, expose students to the basic concepts of environment, different kinds of pollution, contaminants and abatement strategies. They are provided with all the valuable information about the pollution, their ill-effects and how to reduce the pollution load. The participants are also imparted field training in which they learn the uses and functioning of the different pollution monitoring gadgets. The classroom training also engages them in the study and preparation of media clippings, posters, and models depicting different types of pollution loads and their impact.
    Our programme has drawn a tremendous and enthusiastic response from these schools and we are committed to take it further more vigorously in the days to come.
    WHY LUCKNOW ? People may ask as to why only Lucknow has been selected for this programme: the answer is simple since the capital city of country's most populous state is fast turning as one of the mega-cities of India and the pollution levels are found to be very high. Apart from the growing air and noise pollution, one of the major environmental problems that the city is facing today is the pollution load in the river Gomti which passes through the city, bifurcating it into two halves. Lucknow is also an exception where river Gomti takes heavy toll of fish mortality although it traverses from 17 districts containing toxic discharges from various industries, which baffles the environmentalists and the public at large. Surprisingly, there are several hundreds of distilleries and other dreaded units like pesticides which are usually located on the river banks but the unique phenomenon of instantaneous fish mortality at  a stretch of about 6-7 Km. shocks everyone at Lucknow.
    People still remember an incident when on December 30, 1986, the 
6 km. long stretch of Gomti river was found with tonnes of dead fishes and the poor fishermen knew little that it was the result of some poisonous invisible pollution unknown so far because the distilleries' claim is also valid that it is in existence for the last one century.
    The unplanned traffic from unserviced two and three wheelers in this city has even forced the people to wear filter masks to breath fresh air. Perhaps there could have been no better choice than Lucknow for Rajiv Gandhi Foundation to initiate such a scheme of environmental awareness on pilot scale. Now we are determined to achieve our target and raise many Environmental Service Volunteers to propagate the message of late Shri Rajiv Gandhi for cleaner and greener India- a perception cherished by him.
    We have not only confined our drive to the classroom lectures but our mobile van with a team of devoted environmentalists make regular rounds of the city and the adjoining areas for sampling, monitoring, and organizing video shows to explain properly about the benefits of clean environment and the imperatives of public health. Most of the times, programmes' convenor, Dr. M. C. Saxena, addresses the people and the response has been tremendous in the rural areas, too.
    Surely, it is an up-hill task but the way our programme has met with initial success, we are sure to show a definite path to others in the field.

    Whenever a scientific study, which is directly linked with its outcome with public is launched, it is certain to create ripples and the starting revelations made through RGELD did so when newspapers carried out a story about Lucknow city slaying with radiation hazards in the month of January.
    Armed with sophisticated gadgets the mobile van of the foundation made intensive survey in the capital city and in the surrounding areas and scientists were amazed when they observed deflections on the radiation meter. Almost all the busy areas were found to have high levels of radiation and scientists had to check the instrument twice whether there was anything wrong with the gadget supplied by the Electronics. Corporation of India, a Government of India enterprise, but the gadget continued to prove that the reading was correct. Altogether, over fifty different localities were surveyed to find out the levels of radiation and all the points showed their vulnerability for radiation. The study divided the entire city of Lucknow into three zones i.e."maximum vulnerable zones", "moderate vulnerable zones" and the "least vulnerable zones". While in the first category, the radiation has been recorded in the order of 
50-25 mR (milli-roentgens) per day, the second category included levels ranging from 24-10 mR per day and the third category recorded levels less than 10 mR per day. However, at Aliganj (Kendranchalarea) a highest reading of 72 mR per day was recorded.
     The national press carried out news reports about the radiation hazards in Luck now and the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) in right earnest contacted ERL's Executive Director and convenor of RGELD  Dr. M. C. Saxena that they would like to conduct a joint survey. Ironically, the AERB team carried out the survey independently and rejected the scientist's claim saying that radiation levels were recorded through a faulty gadget, little realizing the fact that the radiation meter has been approved by no other than the ECIL itself. The board, thought issued a press statement denying the high levels of radiation but preferred to remain silent over the readings it had recorded through its own 'instrument'.
      ERL has however, continued its campaign and may gather clinching evidences in support of its claim about the possible source of radioactivity in the vicinity of the Lucknow city. Dr. Saxena says that the would disclose the same at an appropriate time. Moreover, the sharp increase in the number of cancer cases and other diseases due to pollution in the city, corroborate the foundation's findings in the matter that a possible source of radioactive rays has been responsible in the sharp rise in different types of diseases including that of Cancer, Lung infection, Sore throat,  and the Eye diseases. 
     The use of 'Leaded petrol' in our vehicles and excessive automobile emission may be a contributing factor to the increased radiation in most of the regions in the city, contends Dr. Saxena, explaining why fuel could be the source of radioactivity, Dr.Saxena feels that the crude oil could have been contaminated with some radioactive element during its refining and the combustion of oil might lead to radiation emissions. The high levels of radiation can also be attributed to microwave towers and high tension wires. The radiations are primarily beta particles with the highest reading recorded at Aliganj, Kendranchal area on Sitapur road.
     In addition to the study on radiation, the Foundation's drive has continued its programme and air and water samples from different points have been recorded and analysed. The interesting findings are sure to raise a controversy over scientist's programme and 'unsuitable' findings may not be liked by those who matter but when everybody is playing with fire, the man with the water hose cannot be a favourite.

Environmental health has been recognized as a leading factor in contributing to the susceptibility of host to a variety of infections and epidemics, playing a pivotal role in the well being of the humans, especially the children and infants of rural areas since they have to bank upon the untreated water supply to quench their thirst. As such, the frequent out-break of epidemic, especially of cholera and gastro are the results of serious water contamination. These problems are magnified during the rains, as  recently witnessed in various parts of this state. However, due to the vigilant approach being practised by this core group in the region, timely detection and isolation of the strains of Cholera vibraeo  by this group, greatly helped in the early arrest of the epidemic in this region.

Persuasion, motivation, and demonstration have been found to have an edge in the adoption of newer methods. This concept has been tried extensively in more than 250 odd villages of this region to stimulate the rural masses about the imperatives of environmental health. Under the programme, the mobile environmental monitoring cum awareness van equipped with a Video Scope along with other scientific gadgets regularly visits the rural areas and offer the environmental education at their doorsteps drawing huge crowds and making a sensible dent in the perception of the subject vis-a-vis imperatives of rural environmental health which recently was found to be directly related to their life and health. The activity was found to be very successful as people from all walks of life and different religion, race, or socio-economic status patiently listened to the environmental message.

(MEDIA  COVERAGE)

THE ISSUE OF NICKEL IN INDIAN CHOCOLATES CREATED A LOT OF HEAT IN THE INDIAN SOCIETY AND THE MEDIA REPORTED THIS ISSUE IN ITS OWN STYLE. WITHOUT PREJUDICE TO ANY ONE AND IN TRUE SPIRIT OF THE ACADEMIC & SCIENTIFIC WISDOM, WE ARE REPRODUCING THE VARIOUSARTICLES PUBLISHED BY HEADING NEWSPAPERS/MAGAZINES WITHOUT ANY COMMENTOR DISTORTION FOR THIS WEB SITE:
 
 

The classic Hamletian dilemma has the most unlikely subjects within its complex folds chocolate lovers. Should I or shouldn't  I gobble that enticing brown bar? The question that is next asked these days is - is it laced with nickel or not? Immediate concern follows with it is nickel carcinogenic? Are chocolates still the gift for someone I love...?
Thankfully for the chocolate manufacturers, such existential crises have been the fodder for drawing-room conversation ever since the story broke. The dilemma is real but has not translated itself into purchasing behaviour for the millions of cocoa-seed lovers in this country. At the last count, there were enough of the breed to keep the industry's sales stirring at a whopping Rs. 155.61 crores in 1990.91; according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy. 
That in a nutshell or, in this case a bar, explains the rage and indignation with which chocolate manufacturers have countered the nickel threat when it was still a feeble voice from the Environmental Research Laboratory in Lucknow. Their swords are down but not yet sheathed. "Nickel, what nickel," said one chocolateer. " We care,"screamed another. Of course, they do. They care for their bottomlines and balance sheets.
But the last word in nickel-in-chocolates has not yet been pronounced. Or, for that matter, nickel-in-anything, or nickel itself. There are claims of toxicity, even carcinogenity of nickel with the World Health Organization for support. There are counter claims about the not-so-harmful, even benevolent effects of nickel with the redoubtable WHO findings quoted in corroboration. Moreover, there are a host of national and international reports used liberally by both sides. That should tell you how complex the controversy is.
If anything clinches the issue, it is the fact that six years ago the Indian Government gave due consideration to a safe limit or the maximum allowable content (MAC) of nickel in vanaspati, or hydrogenated vegetable oil. The  MAC of 1.5 parts per million (PPM) then, under consideration was obviously not without reason and recourse to scientific findings and reports, both national and global, including the WHO. But right, rarely wins. It is might which walks away with the real honours. The vanaspati manufacturers' lobby was strong enough to see that the nickel MAC was not officially stipulated. This time, another powerful lobby is at work and it comprises multinationals, now revered beyond reason.

The power that can and should decide the issue impartially is hedging with surprising agility. The Government has fanned the controversy by its contradictory pronouncements and attitudes. The Government laboratories that possess the know-how to arrive at correct conclusions are being ultra-selective in vOlunteering information. Consider the Government's prevaricators: on September 17, a week after the ERL, Lucknow findings were first reported, the Health Ministry declared that "popular brands of Indian chocolates were safe for consumption as the nickel content in them was negligible," More than two months later, on November 26, the Union Health Minister, Mr. M.L. Fotedar, told Rajya Sabha that "there was no prescribed limit for nickel in chocolates....Reports on the toxicity of nickel were awaited from the National Institute of Occupational health and the Indian Council for Medical Research..."
So, on what basis was the September declaration made? And, more pertinent, for whose benefit? Incidentally, a day before the "safe chocolates" declaration, the Directorate General of Health Services requested the Central Committee for Food Standards to "examine the entire issue and opine whether there is a need to lay down maximum limit of nickel in chocolates/all edible items of food" (sic). Before the request could even reach the committee members, the Health Ministry had decided that "chocolates were safe."
Logic and good governance demands that the Government suspends for ban the sale of chocolates and other food items known to contain nickel until the toxicity or carcinogenity of nickel is established and a safe limit laid down. But isn't it too much to expect this of a good democratic government with the interests of its people at heart? This Government has, time and again, proved that it cares more for the bottomlines and balance sheets of its patrons. 
And to think we might have given nickel the go-by. If it were not for the maverick, Dr. M.S. Saxena, the man the chocolate manufacturers love to hate. The scientist, a former fellow of the Indian Toxicology Research Centre and whose Lucknow laboratory has been recognized by the Department of Science and Technology and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, has been dismissed as a disgruntled, publicity-hound with political aspirations. His motivations apart, his focus on the nickel-in-chocolates will serve a purpose. At best, the toxicity/carcinogenity of nickel will be established and the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act suitably amended. At worst people would have been made aware of the issue and food scientists and chemical technologist can continue to ponder and experiment on the nickel status.

For, as chocolate manfacturers have taken pains to point out, chocolates are not the only suspects. Vanaspati has been previously mentioned. The other nickel- suspect food items are tea leaves, spinach, potatoes, milk, soya protein and wheat flour. In fact, Cadbury, which has the largest market share for cocoa products in India (CMIE) has repeatedly stressed the nickel content in these foodstuffs as if this absolves the chocolates of all harmful effects of nickel presence. The issue, as Mahila Dakshata Samiti activists said, was not chocolates but nickel in anything edible. Chocolates have become a high-profile rallying point for the nickel battle. As Dr.Saxena himself said some time ago. "I have not suggested that chocolates cause cancer. I have said that nickel has been classified as a carcinogenic agent and it can block the messenger RNA molecules. But if the manufacturing process is correct, the catalyst, nickel, has no business to be present in the finished product. The fact that there is too much nickel in these chocolates casts doubts on their manufacturing process."
The ERL, Lucknow analysis arrived at a nickel concentration of 15 to 41.5 PPM. The report stated, "an average Indian chocolate weighs around 40 grams. Thus, by consuming chocolate, a child consumes 600 to 1300 micrograms of toxic nickel against the safe limit of 4 micrograms per chocolate... According to the International Registry of Potentially Toxic Chemicals of the United Nations Environmental Programme, the maximum permissible limit for nickel in milk products has been fixed at 100 micrograms per kilogram. Thus, Indian children are consuming between 100 to 400 times more than the maximum limit of toxic nickel through chocolates alone."
Dr. Saxena staked his reputation along with the chocolates he tested because three other laboratories, National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, Central Food Laboratory, Calcutta and Central Food Technology Research Institute of Mysore came up with findings that showed nickel levels to be roughly 1/20th of what Dr.Saxena had reported. Accepted at face value, it confirms the worst suspicions about the maverick scientist.
But the ERL report goes beyond listing nickel levels in chocolates it states the methodology adopted and the number of samples tested, refers to the Indian standard specifications, the IRPTC, and studies by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, and details the toxic effects of nickel. The offensive points were arrived at after screening 50 samples of each brand randomly collected from the local market. On the other hand, the CFL Calcutta and CRTRI Mysore reports list only the nickel values and the NIN report is a one-paragraph statement that the average nickel value is "in agreement with the values reported from Denmark."
As it happens, the vague Denmark values are mentioned without specifying what values they are nor which agency/laboratory in Denmark has recommended them. If it is international sanction that counts the Health Ministry should have taken into account reports of the Food and Drug Administration of the USA on the Indian chocolate brands under consideration. When Dr. Saxena's report was made public, the U.S.  embassy in New Delhi took serious note of the issue and requested FDA's assistance in verificaton. The FDA warned that the Indian chocolates in question contained two to four times more  nickel than American chocolates. Obviously quoting "Denmark values" is convenient.
An Bombay-based chemical technologist, Mr. N.G.Wagle, is not surprised with the Government attitude. "Successive governemnts have been sleeping over the nickel issue for many years," he said. Mr. Wagle has studied closely the nickel-vanaspati controversy in the mid-80s. He had also suggested a safe nickel limit of 1.55 PPM in vanaspati. A chemical technologist by profession, Mr. Wagle is on the board of directors of the Pest Control of India. He clarified that WHO documents state that nickel acts as a promoter of cancer.
"When we pointed out the extremely high content of nickel in vanaspati, i.e. hydrogenated vegetable oil. We were laughed at. We found that certain brands contained as high as 10 PPM, while some unbranded, bulk manufactured vanaspati made in small-scale and far-flung units contained a shocking 20 PPM. FDA studies showed that with good manufacturing practices this could be brought down to 1 PPM which is ideal. The industry was, and is capable of doing so. But the Government arrived at a compromise to settled at 1.5 PPM in vanaspati six years ago," he explained. 
If the Government deemed of nickel content in vanaspati unsafe for consumption and proceeded to set a limit, the principle should apply to nickel in chocolates and, actually, nickel in anything. In fact, the Directorate General of Health Services has, in a note to members of the Central Comittee of Food Standards,admitted that a draft notification for the 1.5 PPM safe limit of nickel in vanaspati is "being processed" Why were chocolates not placed under the microscope then? Also, why are other food items known to contain nickel being ignored now? "It is a widely accepted fact that nickel is used as a fungicide in tea plantations and tea leaves contain nickel to that extent. Indians consume far more tea than chocolates. It is the nickel problem that the Government has to address, not just the chocolates," said Mr. Wagle.
He disclosed that during the vanaspati controversy, the Government had pleaded inability to enforce the safe limit in the manufacturing process even if such a limit was established, therefore, slinking away from laying down a limit or amending the PFA. He feared that the excuse might be repeated this time around as well. Mr. Wagle believes that chocolate manufacturers are not telling the whole truth when they say the cocoa butter is used in the manufacture of chocolates. 
Cadbury, in a letter to a national daily, has stated that it does not use "hydrogenated vegetable oil in Dairy Milk, Fruit and Nut, and similar moulded chocolate bars, HVO is used in very small quantity in Cadbury's 5 Star....." From his studies, Mr. Wagle explained that cocoa butter contained "very, very small quantities of nickel, so small that they are measured in parts per billion, not parts per million as is the norm. If chocolate manufacturers use cocoa butter, not HVO, then the nickel content cannot be in the range that NIN, CRTRI and CFL have reported," he said. Moreover, he added,"cocoa butter melts at 31 or 32 degree Celsius. It is a known and accepted fact that Indian chocolates are made to withstand much higher temperatures since they are displayed in the open by most shopkeepers. It is possible that chocolate manufacturers use vanaspati or HVO clandestinely."
Lest the manufacturers take to arms if their reputations are injured, there exists an Indian standard specification for cholcolates, IS 1163-1931, which states that the use of cocoa butter may not be feasible on account of our tropical climate. The lie is effectively nailed when you consider the legal notice sent by the Indian Confectionery Manufacturers Association to Dr. Saxena. It suggests that Dr. Saxena turn his attention to the prime contaminant, HVO, which is consumed directly as oil, as also through a large number of products of which chocolates form a miniscule percentage," thereby very adequately confirming that chocolates contain HVO.
Claims and counter-claims, that's what the controversy is all about. Neither the Government nor the chocolate manufacturers nor the Government laboratories have some clean on the issue. The focus ought to be on nickel in anything that is edible.
Since chocolates have become a rallying point for the controversy, here's  a modified nursery rhyme to keep the anti-nickel lobby going:

RICH, CREAMY AND DEADLY

All evidence lead to the conclusion that nickel could be fatal

Undoubtedly, the crusade against errant chocolate manufacturers has remained slack for the lack of information. Even the press, accuse the chocolate company executives, was largely ignorant of the 'hazards' and trying to "sensationalise the issue". A World Health Organisation (WHO) published booklet (Health and Safety, guide # 62 ), probably one of the most exhaustive document on the hazards of nickel intake, concludes that the existing standards needs to be re-evaluated.
Nickel can be absorbed through inhalation, ingestion or through the skin. Drinking water normally contains 10 microgram of the metal per litre, whereas cocoa, soyabean, and some dried legumes contain much higher concentration. A smoker with a 40-cigarette habit probably absorbs between 2 and 23 micrograms. 
Doctors say nickel accumulation takes place in the kidneys, the endocrine glands, the lungs, and the liver. Some reports state that though effects of nickel on terrestrial animals is limited, serious ecological alterations (decrease in number and diversity of species) have been observed near nickel sources.
Long term exposure to metallic nickel, nickel oxide or other compounds have led to inflammation of the respiratory tract in rats and guinea pigs. Nickel chloride has been found to suppress the activity of the antibodies ( natural killer cells) the body's defence system. It was found to induce cancerous lung tumours in rats, while some sub-sulphide compounds has been convincingly found to cause carcinoma following exposure through inhalation.
Certain other compounds of the metal were found to inhibit  DNA systhesis leading to mutations in several cultured mammal cells. High risk groups for nickel poisoning were those working in nickel refineries and nickel plating shops. Affected workers exhibited symptoms like headache, vertigo, nausea, vomiting, insomnias, irritability and skin irrigations. 
The maximum permissible concentration of nickel for milk products in some western countries is set at 0.1 ppm. By contrast, many chocolate brands in India contain Nickel anywhere between 1 and 3 ppm.

CHOCOLATES
BITTER TASTE

Doubts over nickel content 

The case of the richer, smoother, and creamier chocolates is becoming curiouser  and curiouser. With D.M.Saxena, a toxicologist with the government-recognised Environmental Research Laboratory, Lucknow, announcing that he has detected nickel concentrations of up to 400 times the acceptable limit in chocolates made in India, parents are frantic. 
All the 11 brands tested were found to have a nickel content above the safety limit. The chocolates tested were Cadbury's All Silk, Dairy Milk, 5 Star, Fruit and Nut. Cream Bar : Amul's Milk, Fruit and Nut, and Orange: Nestle's Milk Bar and Crunch : and Campco's White Creamy chocolate. "The nickel content was between 15 and 41.5 parts per milllion. By consuming a 40 gram bar a person could be consuming 600 to 1.380 micrograms of nickel against the safe limit of 4 micrograms", says Saxena.
The scare may have some basis, but it's been blown to out of proportion. The National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) found an average nickel content of 1.26 milligrams per kg of chocolate in five Indian brands tested aganist the average figure of 26.5 milligrams per kg detected by the Lucknow laboratory. Five other laboratories share NIN's findings. But they did not test all the brands and their sample sizes were small. So, Saxena's findings cannot be dismissed easily. While there is no evidence to show that ingestion of nickel is harmful, its carcinogenic properties cannot be rules out. 
Saxena says that natural occurrence of nickel in cocoa is not the reason for the metal in chocolates. Manufacturers, he suggests, could be using hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) instead of expensive cocoa butter in violation of Indian food laws. And nickel is used for the solidification of HVO. Interestingly, it is only now that a safe limit for nickel is going to be prescribed, and that too only for vanaspati-HVO-and not chocolates. 
Chocolate-makers are rightly panicking. Industry leader Cadbury India Limited. whose chocolates Saxena used for testing. is sufficiently worried. While admitting a fault in sales, Cadbury Managing Director C.Y.Pal said he couldn't quantify the drop: The controversy has caused anxiety in consumers. But B.N. Vyas, general manager (marketing). Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. makers of Amul chocolates, denies it: "There has been no decline in chocolate sales." "Leading retailers in Bombay, such as American Dry Fruit Mart, also deny a drop in sales of chocolates."
Yet some producers are not willing to take a chance. Taj Caterers does not plan to market its usual chocolate hampers this year. The confectionery industry and the Government have also taken to damage control. The Indian Chocolate Manufacturers' Association has offered to send chocolates to reputed laboratories abroad for testing. The Health Ministry has also given Indian chocolates a clean chit which the industry is publicising widely. 
At stake is the Rs. 125-crore chocolate market, which is growing at a clipping 20 percent a year. And nobody wants to take and chances.
 
 

While the battle over the excessive nickel content in Indian chocolates continues to rage, and threatens to do so for some time, the consumer is still left wondering about its bitter truth. Should he pander to his sweet tooth or not?
This time round, the Mahila Dakshita Samiti (MDS) is responsible for stirring the cocoa controversy. While looking into the problems over the short supply of milk thanks to the delicensing of dairy industries, "somebody" had told them about the now famous American embassy circular issued last October. The note apparently contained a warning to its staff against eating Indian chocolates because of their high nickel content. The chocolate industry, of course, is a relatively high consumer of milk. As Pramila Dandavate of MDS says," Do we need chocolates  or do we need milk?"
So immediately the Samiti swung into action. They wrote several letters to Dr. M.C. Saxena of Environmental Research Laboratories in Lucknow demanding to know all the details about his findings which he had made public a year ago. But he didn't immediately respond. At the same time they shot off a massive to the health ministry demanding to know why no action had been taken to establish the truth about Saxena's claim. The health ministry's response that nickel is not hazardous and therefore, Indian chocolates were safe did not satisfy MDS, so they wrote to the Prime Minister to intervence. He did not reply. In the mean-time, Saxena had responded and agreed to come to Delhi for a seminar on "Delicensing of the Dairy Industry" held on August 28. A week later the MDS  held a press conference in which Saxena again emphasised on the toxic levels of nickel in several top brands of Indian chocolates. 
Allegations and counter allegations have completely confounded the consumer and, for the time being at least, chocolate sales are down. The World Health Organisation's (WHO) views on nickel have been quoted by both lobbies to serve their own ends. While one says " according to WHO's environmental health criteria, nickel ingestion can lead to cancer besides affecting the liver and kidneys, causing skin diseases and greying of hair," the other insists, " latest reports of WHO have mentioned that there is a lack of evidence of a carcinogenic risk from orag exposure to nickel."
Since the American embassy circular has acted as the real catalyst in this fresh battle between the chocolate industry and Dr. Saxena, at a press conference held in Bombay. C.Y.Pal, chairman of Cadbury's India, lashed out against the US chocolate industry. He claimed that the nickel content in American chocolates is far greater than that present in the Indian products. 
While this may or may not be true, American embassy officials refuse to comment. All they say is that based on the findings of the US Food and Drug Administration toxicologist, they issued the circular in the interest of their internal staff. Apparently, hypersensitivity to chocolates because of its nickel content is a known phenomena in the United States and this circular, officials say, was meant for those persons who suffer from this syndrome. 
"The issue is nickel and not chocolates," insists Dandavate even though in the next breath she expostulates. "We (MDS) feel that in the third world countries we are not treated as human beings. They (multinationals) can dump anything in this country and are only concerned about the market. We have to guard ourselves." However, she feels, until the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act is amended to include a specification about the allowable levels of nickel in food products, the "culprits" cannot be brought to book.
Dr. Saxena, against whom the entire chocolate lobby is up in arms and who will face all charges if this battle goes to court, is adamant about his claims. And his credentials have naturally come into question. His connections with high profile politicians is well known as is his alleged friendship with a local gangster, Aruna Shankar Shukla. Besides, the fact that in 1988 he was dismissed from the Industrial Toxicological Research Centre about which he is already fighting a case in Court. However, he has established himself as a scientist both here and abroad. In any case, it is the concern for the consumer, particularly children, that may see this controversy to its bitter end. As Pushpa Girimaji, columnist on consumer issues says, "if something good does come out of this- whatever be the ulterior motive of the contenders-the consumer will benefit."

Chocolate Industry Attempts Damage Control

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

NEW DELHI - The Rs.100-crore chocolate industry in the country is in a state of turmoil following reports on the findings of a Lucknow laboratory that several Indian chocolates contain high levels of nickel.
A massive damage-limitation operation has been launched, with the chief executives of Cadbury's and Amul holding press conferences in Bombay and Ahmedabad and issuing statements to assure consumers that their chocolates are safe. Cadbury's has also gone in for an advertising blitzkrieg. 
At a press conference in Bombay on Friday, Cadbury India's Chairman C.Y.Pal, said that the nickel content in Indian chocolates was far below that present in American chocolates. There was also no recommended level for nickel in food, set by any expert body in any country, he pointed out. 
In an unprecedented move, the Health Ministry has rushed to the aid of chocolate manufacturers, many of whom are powerful multinational companies. In an official release, the ministry has said that Indian chocolates have been tested at four reputed Government laboratories and found to contain safe amount of nickel. There is no need to lay down any limits of the content of nickel in food items, except vanaspati, according to the ministry.
It has also explained that nickel has not been classified under the category of poisonous metal under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act and that even international standards do not classify it as such. 
Cadbury's the only chocolate company that has reacted to the Indian Express report on nickel in Indian Chocolates, has clarified that it does not use Hydrogenated Vegetable  Oil (HVO) in its 'Dairy Milk', 'Fruit & Nut' and "similar moulded bars".
However, it has said that Cadbury India does use HVO in "very small quantity" in its '5 Star' chocolate bar. 
According to the company's own lab analysis, the nickel content in the '5 Star' bar is minimum and acceptable. Cadbury's has added that the analysis also shows that a 40-gm 'Dairy Milk' bar has a nickel content equivalent to that present in a quarter litre of milk.
Cadbury India's chairman, has said in a letter, that nickel is a natural trace element present in food items generally consumed on a day-to-day basis (tea leaves, spinach, milk, and wheat flour), and that leading research institutions abroad have clarified that nickel content upto a certain level is essential for the biological functions of the human body.
According to Mr. Pal, the nickel in chocolate products is a result of the trace levels of the metal present in various natural ingredients used in their manufacture, which is common not only in India but also other countries.
Mr. Pal has pointed out that a question on this issue was raised in the monsoon session of Parliament this year. In a written reply to an unstarred question, Ministry of State for Health, D.K. Thara Devi, had said: "The Environmental Research Laboratory, Lucknow, which is a small private laboratory, has screened a few samples of chocolates and reported that they show higher nickel content."
She also stated: "However, the result of samples of chocolates analysed at the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN). Hyderabad, a permanent research centre under the Indian Council of Medical Research, have been found to be in agreement with values reported from Denmark, that is with a mean figure of 1.26 mg/kg.
"Latest reports of WHO have mentioned that there is lack of evidence of a carcinogenic risk from oral exposure of nickel. In fact, nickel has been shown as an essential trace element in some plants and bacterial enzymes. Based on this information, the NIN has opined that there is no need to lay down any maximum limit of nickel in chocolate,'  she declared.
 Cadbury's have said that its information from independent reputed research laboratories in the UK reconfirms what Mrs. Thara Devi told Parliament.
Referring to reports of a press conference in Lucknow, held in August last year, Cadbury's have said that Dr. Saxena (ERL Director), could not substantiate his earlier claim that chocolates caused cancer.
"In view of these facts and taking into consideration the equipment and analytical capability of this laboratory, in our view being questionable, we decided not to pursue this matter legally," Mr. Pal has said.
Indian Express replies: Cadbury's have now admitted that HVO is used "in very small quantity" in its 'Five Star' chocolate. This contradicts the earlier statement made by a senior executive of the company who categorically told this correspondent  that Cadbury never uses HVO in its chocolates and uses only cocoa butter. 
The company's contention that its own laboratory analysis showed that its own laboratory analysis showed that a 40-gram 'Dairy Milk' bar contained nickel equal to that in a quarter litre of mild is an attempt at obfuscaton. Nickel in its natural, trace element form may not be harmful upto a certain level; whether it remains safe after having gone through a chemical process is open to question. 
If the first report raised some questions, it did so because public interest warrants examination of issues raised by the laboratory's findings. The controversy also incidentally turns the spotlight on food regulations in the country.

High Nickel content

The bitter truth about Indian chocolates
Several popular brands of Indian chocolates, which are believed to have a high nickel content, have been declared harmful by a government-recognised laboratory in Lucknow.
Though chocolate manufacturers vehemently contest the laboratory report, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States, which was sent news reports on the subject by the American Embassy here, also said it appeared that Indian chocolates have a high level of nickel. 
As many as even leading brands of vanaspati, called hydrogenated vegetable oils (HVOs), have also been found by the Lucknow laboratory to be containing very high levels of nickel.
According to the findings of the Environmental Research Laboratory (ERL) in Lucknow, which is recognised, among others, by the Department of Science and Technology and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, 11 brands of chocolates contain 4 to 10 times the maximum allowable concentration (MAC) of nickel.
According to the ERL, the MAC of nickel in chocolates is 4 micrograms per gram. An average 40 gram bar of chocolate should, therefore contain 160 micrograms of nickel. In the chocolates tested, however, the range of nickel content in each bar was between 600 and 1380 micrograms. 
The ERL report said five Cadburys brands (All Silk, Dairy Milk, 5 Star, Fruit and Nut, and Cream Bar), three Amul brands (Milk, Fruit and Nut and Orange), two Nestle brands (Milk Bar and Crunch) and Campcos. White Creamy Chocolate exceeded the safe nickel limit. Fifty pieces of each chocolate were tested.
According to the World Health Organisation's environmental health criteria, nickel ingestion can lead to cancer besides affecting the liver and kidneys, causing skin diseases and greying of hair, UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) has classified nickel as a highly, dangerous metal. 
Dr. M.C.Saxena, Director of ERL, holds that epidemiological and animal studies have shown high nickel content can be particularly harmful to children since it blocks the formation of proteins by affecting genetic building blocks such as DNA and RNA.
The cause of the high nickel content has been traced to the use of hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) in Indian chocolates. Cocoa buter is used in other countries but HVO is said to be used in India as a hardening agent to prevent chocolates from melting in high temperatures. In fact, it is the nickel content in HVO which is said to be necessary since the metal has a high melting temperature. 
Chocolate manufacturers, however, are understandably up in arms against Dr. Saxena, "Indian chocolates conform to international regulations. They do not contain HVO and are made with cocoa butter. So the question of use of nickel does not arise," says Mr.Rao of the Indian Confectionery Manufacturers Association. Dismissing 
Dr. Saxena's report as a cheap publicity gimmick, Mr. Rao says the nickel present in chocolates is because of natural trace elements which are also present in milk, tea and coffee; there is no addition, he says.
An official from Cadburys also denies using HVO in chocolates. He said nickel was not even mentioned as a toxic metal under the FPA, "Dr. Saxena's findings are absurd. We have had our chocolates tested by the Bhabha laboratory and they did not find the nickel levels to be too high," the official told ENS. 
However, the association, which served a legal notice on Dr. Saxena, says in that notice on Dr. Saxena should focus his attention on the "prime contaminant, HVO which is consumed directly as oil as also through a large number of products, out of which chocolate forms only a miniscule percentage." This statement implies that chocolates do contain HVO.
Dr. Saxena's  findings on vanaspati had also met with denials to start with. Finally, however, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has admitted vanaspati does have a high nickel content and that an amendment to the PFA Act is neccessary to deal with this problem. 
Signficantly, the chocolate companies concerned have not filed any cases against Dr. Saxena though legal notices were sent asking him to give details of how the tests were done. According to the association, 
Dr. Saxena has not replied to the notices.
Dr. Saxena released his findings a year ago. Inquiries with the Health Ministry and DGHS reveal nothing has been done so far. The DGHS discounts the ERL as a private laboratory and says it has conducted its own tests on chocolates and found no basis for Dr. Saxena's claims. 
US Embassy here, however, took more serious note of the issue. It sent a copy of the news item to the FDA for clarification and verification. The reply resulted in a warning being sent to the embassy staff.  Quoting the FDA report in brief, the notice said the Indian chocolates in question contained two to four times more nickel than American chocolates. Consumption of these chocolates was likely to cause skin rash among sensitive prersons, the notice (issued last October) added.
Clearly revealing the Government's indifference towards the issue, neither has the Bureau of  Indian Standards laid down standards for nickel content in food-stuffs, nor has the FPA taken note of nickel contamination by including nickel in its list of harmful toxicants. 
The Mahila Dakshata Samiti, which has taken up the issue, believes the influence of powerful multinationals is one of the reasons the Government has failed to act. The Samiti has demanded an explanation from the Government on what action has been taken since the ERL report was made public a year ago. Nickel has not been put on the list of harmful toxicants, they point out; an amendment to the FPA is a must.
The Samiti is chalking out a plan of action to create public awareness on the issue and is also trying to collect information on other chocolate brands.
"The Government should ban these chocolates. At the very least, it should see that wrappers carry a warning that they are harmful, the way cigarette packs do," says Ms. Vinay Bhardwaj of the Samiti.

The chocolate scare
Not long after the BVO scare in soft-drinks died down, a report appearing in a daily in September has once again sparked off a debate about the safety of food-products we ordinarily consume, without a care as to the possible toxicity of their contents. 
The report quoted a study conducted by the Lucknow-based Environmental Research Laboratory (ERL), which found high-levels of nickel content in 11 brands of Indian chocolates nearly 4-10 times more  than the accepted levels. Since chocolates are mainly consumed by children, the possibility of nickel contamination in chocolates, sparked off a scare that threatened the well-entrenched empires of chocolate manufacturers like Cadbury's Nestle and Amul. Nepal promptly announced a possible ban on Indian chocolates.
Cadbury's were the first to react with ads disclaiming the ERL findings. The well-conceived ad campaign cited "44 years of trust" as the reason why the company's products could never be harmful.
The campaign was followed up by a Press conference in Bombay after which members of the press were presented with a selection of Cadbury's chocolates, with the assurance that they were "not harmful."
According to Cadbury's Chairman and Managing  Director, C.V.Pal, who addressed the press conference, the ERL  research findings being released to the press without proper verification and cross-checking caused an "irresponsible panic." Answering questions as to why Cadbury's was the only company taking such pains to clear its name, Mr. Pal replied, "We are the leaders in the market, we are more concerned."
However, chocolate manufacturers in India are going to have to do a lot more convincing if they have to save their clientele. Kailash Vyas, MD of Amul and vice-president of the Indian Chocolate Manufacturers' Association, announced an immediate clarification of the allegations against the concerned companies. The association members, have for once forgotten brand rivalries and decided on some kind of joint action that includes a lawsuit against ERL researcher Dr. M.C. Saxena.
If the matter goes to court, Dr. Saxena will have not make public his methodology and prove his findings. Till such time as the Association decides to take legal action, the big players in the business who have been implicated in the ERL report are trying their hardest to counter the panic by getting eminent medical authorities and consumer activists to condemn the ERL report.
When asked if Cadbury's would submit their products to a test by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), Mr. Pal replied, "Everyone seems to think the FDS is the sole suthority. We are getting our products tested by agencies in the UK." A Cadbury's press release also states that Dr. Saxena had raised the issue of nickel contamination last year, and the company had explained that the charges were not substantiated or subjected to scrutiny by a recognised scientific forum.
While the ERL report says that hydrogenated vegetable oils (HVO) used in Indian chocolates (cocoa beans are used in foreign chocolates are the chief cause of high nickel content, Mr. Pal says the slight traces of nickel in chocolates are due to the nickel components of the products used in the manufacture of chocolates-milk for example. The only difference in chocolates made here and abroad, he feels, is that Indian chocolates are made for tropical conditions and may be harder than, say, American chocolates. All the other ingredients are the same Nickel is not used as an additive to prevent chocolates from melting, as Dr. Saxena claims in his report. 
Taking the medical aspects of the nickel issue, experts seem to think that the controversy is pointless. The body absorbs very little nickel from food products (vegetables, fruits, pulses, tea and other foods contain nickel in quantities much higher than waht is required by the human body) and a large percentage of the ingested nickel is expelled from the body in urine.
While it is true that large quantities of nickel could affect the heart and liver and prove to be carcinogenic, it is hardly likely that people would be able to consume such large quantities in the normal diet. As a matter of fact a deficiency of nickel could have some adverse effects on the body's cells structure, but a day-to-day diet contains more than the body needs.
Reacting to the controversy, even the Health Ministry announced that Indian chocolates were as safe as chocolates from Denmark and the U.S However, samples have been sent for further analysis. 
Most probably, the uproar will die down as abruptly as it has started. BVO didn't cause any appreciable drop in the sales of aerated drinks. The HVO scare isn't going to keep consumers away from chocolates. As long as there are children, there will be adults using chocolates as pacifiers or "gifts of love". Recent findings have actually given credit to chocolates for being stress fighters.
According to N.G. Wagle, Convenor, Testing Committee of the Consumer Guidance Society of India, a World Health Organisation report states that nickel and its salts are skin sensitisers. Women are the worst sufferers of nickel dermatitis caused by the presence of the metal in consmetics, toileteries, soaps and detergents. May be these products should be tested and regulated as well.
If the chocolate controversy serves as a catalyst for greater consumer awareness about health hazards and toxic additives in food products, it would have served some purpose.
The sad truth is that in a country where people are dying of starvation, a commotion about chocolates is hardly relevant!
 
 

He is no sugar-daddy
Atul Chandra meets the maverick scientist, Dr. M.C. Saxena, who claims Indian-made chocolates are simply not right for you
The scientist, Dr. M.C. Saxena, who has stirred up a hornets' nest by pronouncing that Indian-made chocolates are carcinogenic because of high nickel content, preparing to ward-off the counter-attack launched by top chocolate manufacturers when this reporter approached him for an interview. 
"Please, you will have to wait a while as I am getting a video film of my laboratory made for a press conference in Delhi on Thrusday," the scientist said.
In Delhi, Dr. Saxena told The Pioneer on Sunday that he has received threatening phone calls. But the indomitable scientist added, "Even if I am killed, I will leave enough evidence behind to indict them."
"They have challenged me and my laboratory's credibility and I am not going to let them get away with it," he added, before asking one of his staff members to guide this reporter to the first floor of the double storeyed building housing Environmental Research Laboratory.
The epicentre of the tremors over chocolates is situated on a narrow road in the old Lucknow locality of Roop-pur. It has a full-fledged staff comprising an assistant director, research assistants, three post-graduate students enrolled for doctroal work, besides the usual assortment of clerical staff. 
This reporter was talking to the Ph.D students when Dr. Saxena rushed into the room and solicitiously enquired about the kind of information being sought. He then admonished the students and instructed them admonished the students and instructed them to speak to outsiders only in his presence. 
I was then put under the charge of another person, a consultant with the laboratory. Who took me to an adjacent room where sophisticated gadgets were kept. 
The presence of a reporter in the laboratory was probably disconcerting for Dr. Saxena who, though preoccupied, soon came there to explain the functions of the gadgets. "This is Atomic Aborption  Spectro Photometer 901 GBC. It's made in Austrialia. This is HPCC9A, Shimatzu, made in Japan. This is nucon 5700 GLC, made in the USA." After having rattled out the names of the gadgets, he again got busy directing the video cameraman. 
It was then a long wait in the company of the consultant before Dr. Saxena deigned to join us.
All of a sudden his faced seemed familiar. "Where you ever with the BJP leader, atal Behari Vajpayee?" The question caught the scientist by surprise. "Yes, Atal knows me very well," Dr.Saxena replied with a straight face.
"But were you not trying for the BJP ticket to fight the last election from the Lucknow Central Assembly seat?" "What is wrong in that?" Dr. Saxena shot back, adding , "I am not a Government servant. I am a free person and I can do whatever I want."
BJP sources say Dr. Saxena's name was cleared for the Lucknow Central seat but last minute lobbying by his detractors in the party put paid to his hope . 
A local BJP Lal Gupta, claims that after Dr. Saxena was denied the party ticket in 1989, he became the counting agent of Mandhata Singh, a Janata Dal candidate.
"Mandhata is a good friend. So is Kalyan Singh," quipped the scientist. 
"But what about Anna (alias for Aruna Shankar Shukla, a local gangster who was very close to the former chief miniter Mulayam Singh Yadav)? "Anna," he exclaimed.
A telephone call interrupted the conversation. "Train reservation is not possible," his secretary relayed the message. Dr. Saxena went over and issued instructions: "Theek hai app AC ka ticket le leejiye aur use 17 number mein de aaiyie main dekh loonga."
(Okay, you get an AC ticket and leave it in room 17, I'll take care of it).
Picking up the threads of conversation, a resolute Dr. Saxena bellowed, "I will not let them off the hook. I will take the issue to International lanoratories. I will fight it out." He then abruptly left the room and returned with three small packets containing tufts of hair. 
Looking at this reporter's hair he remarked, "Premature greying of hair is caused by nickel. These are the samples sent for analysis by AIIMS, Delhi."
Dr. Saxena was playing extra cautious. Asked what is the daily intake of nickel through food, air and water, Dr. Saxena paused and then replied, "I don't know." The answer indeed surprised me immensely considering the scientist had only recently attended the Fourth International Conference on Nickel in Canada. 
According to a scientist in the Industrial Toxicological Research Centre (ITRC), from where Dr. Saxena was dismissed in 1998, the average daily intake of nickel through food is 600 microgrammes while through water and air it is 2.36 mcg with the total body control being 10 mg.
Asked to explain his dismissal from the ITRC, he simply said that everyone knows about it. He, however, quickly added, "I have won the legal battle against my dismissal."
His flirtation with politics apart, Dr.Saxena has established himself as a scientist both here and abroad. He is member of several prestigious government bodies like Central Insecticide Board and the Task force on Surveillance of Food Contaminants. He is also on the Evaluation Committee on Chloroflouro carbons/refrigerants and their substitutes and expert committee on Radioactivity in Dairy Products

TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION

Find Out The Bitter Truth
Chocolates cause cancer, say the scientists. (What a killjoy!) The villain here is HVO (hydrogenated vegetable oils). Remember the BVO (brominated vegetable oils) controversy of two years ago, wherein beverages like Campa Cola and Limca were sought to be outlawed by our health custodians?
Close on the heels media reports highlighting the high nickel content of Indian chocolates, which besides inviting sharp denials from the chocolate manufacturers, resulted in a prompt warning by the USA to its embassy officials in India not to use Indian chocolates and Nepal has plans to ban Indian chocolates.
The issue hit the headlines recently with Dr. M.C. Saxena of the Environmental Research Laboratory, Lucknow, claiming that as many as 11 brands of leading chocolates companies contained 4 to 10 times the maximum allowable concentration of nickel . The maximum  allowable content of nickel in chocolates, according to Saxena, should be four micrograms per gram and an excess of it, he warned, could cause cancer.
Besides causing cancer and greying of hair, ingestion of nickel can be particularly harmful for children. "It (ingestion of nickel) may not only inhibit their growth and development", says Saxena, "but may also hamper the adequate formation of anti-bodies, rendering them more vulnerable to infections and diseases".
The presence of nickel has been traced to the hydrogenated vegetable oil which, Saxena claims, is used in Indian chocolates as a hardening agent as against the world-wide practice of using cocoa-butter for the same purpose. 
Dr. Saxena's sensational findings appeared in the press last year also. But with voluntary organizations showing no interest and the government turning a blind eye to the issue, Saxena's research, though grave in nature, failed to cause a stir.
For one long year, Dr. Saxena went from pillar to post in quest on a forum from where he could air his views effectively. But the forum eluded him until this year when met Mrs. Pramila Dandavate, President, Mahila Dakshta Samiti (a Delhi-based voluntary organization) at a seminar. Mrs. Dandavate was shocked to hear Dr. Saxena's findings and assured him that she was going to take up the issue. "It is the height of the Government's callousness", says a visibly upset Mrs. Dandavate," that despite the issue having appeared in the press last year no action has been taken against the multi-national companies who have been blatantly feeding poison to our kids."
What is alarming is that despite the World Health Organization's clear recommendations that nickel is a harmful toxicant, this poisonous metal has not been included in the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1955. "We want to take the Multinational companies to court", says Vinay Bhardwaj of the MDS, "but  we find our hands tied to our back because of this major lacunae in the PFA." This is the lacunae that the MDS wants to bring to the government's notice.
In a bid to wake up the authorities MDS even presented a memorandum to the Prime Minister which however, elicited the usual assurance that he would look in to the mather. The government's indifference bordering on callousness sounds ironic as compared to the swift action taken by the USA. Just after Dr. Saxena's findings appeared in the press last year, the Food and Drug Administration of America had issued a strict warning to the American embassy officials in Indian against the use of Indian chocolates.
"If the government fails to take any action this time", warns Mrs. Dandavate "we will launch an agitation against the multinational companies in India."
That is what, it seems, the MDS will have to do because just as the issue hit the leadlines, the Health Ministry came out with a clarification claiming that Indian chocolates contain nondeductible amounts of nickel.
Cadbury's on their part, explained that they used HVO containing nickel "in very small quantity" in its 5-star chocolate bars only and not in the others." 
Are they speaking the truth or trying to scuttle an enquiry?
Curiously enough, this not the single instance where the claims sound mutually contradictory.
Even the Secretary of Indian Cionfectionery manufacturing Association, Mr. Rao's claim that "internationally, the standard of nickel concentration in chocolates does not exist", sound hollow because event the Bureau of Indian Standards' chocolates-specification(IS 1163: 1992)does not list HVO (which has a  nickel content among the ingredients specified by it for use in the making of chocolates.
In the light of these alarming facts, DGH's claim that "there is no need to lay down any maximum limits of n ickel in food items" sounds disconcerting.
Apart form government's apathy, what adds ironic dimension to the raging controversy is that the officials in the premier medical body-as ignorant of the issue as the man on the street. In fact, the President of IMA profusely thanked this reporter for bringing the issue to his notice. Not only that he also sought 10 days time so that IMA could clear its stand in the entire controversy.

Not much study has been done on the effect of nickel on the human body. However, most pharmacologists, microbiologists and forensic experts are of the view that consumption of the view that consumption of nickel does effect the human body, especially, the growth of children.
"Nickel is a divalent metal, as is calcium, (the most important metal required for the growth of children). Our body consumes calcium through a channel known as the calcium channel known as the calcium channel. Being a divalent metal, nickel also enters the blood cells through the same calcium channel and blocks it which makes the body unable to absorb calcium", says a pharmacologist.
"Blockage of entry of calcium into the cell hampers the cellular activities of the body. Calcium is basically required for the contraction of muscles, heart and blood vessels," he adds.
A research was done on chicks in 1970. They were given diets containing 750 ppm (parts per million) of nickel. Researchers found toxic symptoms of growth depression, and reduction in food intake.
According to the microbiologists, the main functions of nickel in our body is to activate several enzyme systems. It is also found in traces in RNA. Studies carried out in USA shows that adults excrete about 30 micrograms of nickel per liter of urine on normal diets, whereas the research by Environmental Research Laboratory in Lucknow shows that one kilogram of chocolate contains 4000 micrograms of nickel.
The microbiologist further said that nickel does not normally accumulate in the tissues with age. However, a very small quantity of nickel is found in human tissues including intestines, bladder, lung, muscle, heart, and liver.

Choc A Bloc
To paraphase Ogden Nash, -liquor might still be quicker, but candy is no longer dandy. According to a recent report in the local press, Indian chocolates contain a high levelof nickelladen hydrogennated oils which could prove harmful to health. Chocolate manufacturers, who are known to mint money in more ways than one, have rebutted this charge, claiming that all the ingredients used are in fact chockful of goodness. Such sweet talk not withstanding, chocolate has long had its bitter critics. When it was first intoduced into the western world some three centuries ago, the processed seed of the cacao tree was looked at askance in genteel circles because of its supposedly aphrodisiac qualities, a consideration which perhaps caused Chesterton to remark: "Tea, although an oriental/is a gentleman at least;/cocoa is a cad and coward/cocoa is a vulgar beast. "Despite such cavests regarding la dolce vita, chocolate became a popular favourite. Shaw used it to promote pacifism in the form of bluntschli, the "chocolate-cream soldier" in Arms And The Man, who stuffed his amunition pouch with candy instead of cartridges and preferred biting into a bob-bon then biting the bullet. Shaw was obviously fond of fondants, and Eliza Doolittle's concept of utopian bliss included "lots of chocolates for me to eat". Modern nutritionsts, however, have pointed out that many of the preservatives added to such confectionery contain chemicals conducive to anti-social and aggressive behaviour. Closer to home, though, the best walking advertisement for a sweet tooth is probably the former prime minister, Mr. Morarji Desai who is said to have a weakness for chocolates, particularly of the Swiss variety. Those who would follow Mr. Desai's prescription, however, would do well to keep in mind his other dietary preferences, however, would do well to keep in mind his other dietary preferences, which might prove more difficult to swallow. Weightwatchers' organisations have also warned against the consequences of getting more than one's just deserts. Despite such cautionary pronouncements, the diehard connoisseur will cleave to the consumerist manifesto: chocoholics of the world unite! you have nothing to loose but your double chins.

'Nickel content in chocolates high'
The Executive Director of the Environmental Research Laboratory, Lucknow, Dr. M.C. Saxena, on Thursday criticized the statements made by the Health Ministry and a reputed chocolate company that the chocolates were safe. He called the statement "bogus".
Dr. Saxena, who had recently brought out a study, saying that at least 12 leading brands of chocolates in India and seven branches of hydrogenated vegetable oil contained very high doses of nickel, which exceeds the maximum permissible value and that excess nickel could cause cancer and prevent growth of DNA in children. He reiterated his stand on the findings at a Press conference organized by the Mahila Dakshata Samiti in the Capital on Thursday. 
Dr. Saxena said that the Health Ministry's claim that the nickel content in Indian chocolates had been analysed at the National Institute of Nutrition at Hyderabad and the nickel content in the Indian chocolates was "in the non-detectable range", up to 1.76 ppm, fails to provide necessary details. A circular by the American Embassy obtained by the Mahila Dakshata Samiti comments on the FDA of their country on the chocolates, states that the chocolate manufacturers in India used hydrogenated vegetable oil, a cheaper substitute of cocoa butter fat, was supposed to be carcinogenic. 
The Prime Minister, who was apprised of the issue by the MDS, had promised action against it but it was negated by a Health Ministry's statement. 
Dr. Saxena said that the equipment used for testing the chocolates was internationally acknowledged. He also refuted the claim of the Cadbury company's CMD who said that no where in the world was any limit set for the nickel content in chocolates. Dr. Saxena said that according to health Ministry's regulation, in Czechoslovakia, the maximum permissible concentration of nickel in milk products was 0.1 ppm. He said he had written to Mrs D. Mukherjee, Assistant  Director-General., Preventing of Food Adulteration, HealthMinistry, saying all the 12 brands of chocolates were supposed to contain nickel varying from 15 ppm to 41.5 ppm which is above the internationally acceptable standards.
Dr. Saxena said that if nickel was used as a catalyst for hydrogenating vanaspati, then the nickel should be filtered out later. But it was allowed to remain and added that the chocolate brands were also not ISI marked.

The bitter side of chocolates
LUCKNOW, August 20: Leading Indian brands of chocolates have been found to have nickel content that is 100 to 400 times above the prescribed safe limits, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Environmental Research Laboratory, Lucknow.
Talking to newsmen at a press conference, Dr. M.C. Saxena, executive director of Environmental Research Laboratory, said that 50 samples each of four leading market brands of chocolates were tested and each of them were found to contain 600-1380 micrograms of nickel. The maximum allowable concentration (MAC values) of nickel is only 4 micrograms. 
Dr. Saxena stated that nickel is clasified carcinogen (cancer causing agent) and is known for its ability to block 'messenger RNA' and thereby adversely effect synthesis of cells in the body.
Consumption of harmful quantities of nickel through chocolates by children is bound to have an inhibitive effect on growth and development. Retardation of formation of anti-bodies and greying of hair are other effects of nickel consumption he explained. 
The scientist said that foreign companies manufacturing chocolates used cocoa butter as an emulsifying agent. "Most Indian manufacturers, presumably, use hydergenated vegetable oil (HVO) as an emulsifying agent because it has a high melting point that suits the Indian climate and is comparatively cheaper than cocoa butter.
He, however, refused to say if the use of HVO in Indian chocolates has been confirmed beyond doubt "Only HVO is known to have a high quantity of nickel and that explains why only Indian chocolates have high nickel traces", he reasoned. 
Dr. Saxena said that it was a matter of great regret that nickel, despite being well known for its high toxic effect, continues to be omitted from the list of poisonous metals ofthe Prevention Food Adulteration Act. 
The scientist said that the report was being sent to the Government for taking necessary steps in the matter. The environmentalists would soon call for a national debate on the topic and an environment literacy programme is scheduled to be launched in the second week of September.

Experts dares Govt. on Chocolates

New Delhi - The Executive Director of Environmental Research Laboratory(ERL), Lucknow,  Dr. M. C. Saxena, whose findings on the excessive nickel content in Indian chocolates raised a controversy, has challenged Health Ministry claims that Indian chocolates were safe. 
Addressing press-persons here on Thursday, Dr. Saxena accused the four Government laboratories that has carried out the analysis on chocolates, of being biased. 
He quoted the example of the test results of the Bhabha Atomic Research Institute which had carried out an analysis on two samples of Amul chocolates and alleged that, the samples had not been selected at random.
Dr. Saxena said it was ridiculous that these results were being taken as gospel of the basis of two samples whereas the ERL, which had analysed 50 random samples of each brand before computing its data.
He said one laboratory - Italah Private Ltd., Bombay, had in its test results even gone to the extend of declaring that the nickel content in Amul milk chocolate was nil.
Dr. Saxena accused Mr. Devi Mukherjee, Additional Director General, Protection of Food and Adulteration (PFA), Health Ministry, of vested interests. He said she had requested him for information on his findings for replies to questions asked in Parliament. All the relevant information had been sent to her and yet none of it had been disclosed in Parliament, he said.
It was strange, he said, for Ms. Mukherjee had been holding the post for over a decade now.
Defending his findings, Dr. Saxena pointed out that toxicologists in Food and Drug Administration Department (FDA), while replying the queries by the American Embassy he said that Indian chocolates contained 2 to 4 times more nickel than American chocolates.
He also defended the testing calibre of ERL, and said as far as testing nickel was concerned, the laboratory was fully equipped with the most sophisticated instrument prescribed internationally.
Regarding the permitted concentration of nickel in food items, he said the Ministry of Health, Czechoslovakia, had recommended 0.1 ppm (part per million) of nickel in milk products and 0.5 ppm in meat, fish and vegetable products. A similar regulation had been enforced in the USSR recommending 0.5 ppm in fish products and cereals and 0.1 ppm in milk.
According to him, in India, there had been no standard specification laid down with regards to nickel and stressed it was necessary to list it as a toxic metal in the FDA.
He warned that nickel was highly toxic was specially harmful in the case of children as it tended to inhibited growth. The International Registry of Potentially Toxic Chemicals had pronounced  it as potentially carcinogenic and it also affected antibody formation.
He emphasised that research in ERL, had found that there was a correlation between the copper nickel ratio in connection with premature greying. Findings had revealed that nickel contents was much higher in persons with grey hairs while copper was higher in those with black.
Dr. Saxena said that the laboratory was now engaged in scrutinising all the contaminants in chocolates apart from nickel and indicated that there were even more dreaded substances present in Indian chocolates apart from nickel.
Dr. Saxena also displayed two chocolates which did not have their batch no. or expiry date listed, which according to him was an offence under law.
 
 

Chocolate debate is still on

New Delhi- The debate on the safety of the Indian chocolates is not over. The Health Minister, Mr. M. L. Fotedar, has decided to resolve the issue by convening a meeting of leading scientists, nutrition experts and consumer rights activists on the merits and demerits of Indian chocolates in their present mix of milk, hydrogenated vegetable oils et. al.
The Director General Health Services has convened the meeting on October 30. A week later the government hopes to announce the findings of the experts.
Mr. Fotedar, told this correspondent “our mind is open on the subjects”. We will be guided entirely by the advice of experts. I would like to dispel fears and clarify the issue once and for all. Children are the biggest consumer of chocolates and the public needs reconfirmation that what we feed them is safe.
The decision to call a meeting of experts has been taken by Mr. Fotedar because the reports in media have cast the shadows of doubt in the public mind. Janata Dal M.P. Mr. Rabi Ray, has also been pressing the health minister to fix standards for nickel contents in various food products. Earlier the health ministry had issued a press release that Indian chocolates were safe and this was highlighted by the chocolates manufactures in their advertisements.
Mr. |Fotedar said “India had been following the standard laid down by Codex Alimentarius/WHO/FAO,  which do not prescribe any limits for nickel in food products. On the recommendations of National Institute of Nutrition an exception was made in the case of hydrogenated vegetable oil as nickel appeared in the product as contaminant and not as a natural ingredient”.
The experts were look at the presence of nickel in various food products and chocolates in particular.
 
 

Cancerous agent found in chocolates
The Times of India News Service LUCKNOW, August 20: Some leading brands of chocolates manufactured in the country have been found to contain a carcinogenic metal, nickel, 100 to 400 times more than the maximum permissible limit.
This was discovered by the Environmental Research Laboratory here in an extensive study of 50 samples of each brand of chocolate. 
Dr. M.C. Saxena, director of the laboratory, told reporters here that nickel block the formation of protein buy affecting the genetic material (messenger-RNA). This was why its presence was more harmful to children than adults. Dr. Saxena analysed about a dozen brands of chocolates manufactured by four leading companies. All these brands were found to be highly contaminated, Dr. Saxena claimed.
By consuming one chocolate, a child consumed 600 to 1,380 micrograms of toxic nickel against a safe limit of four micrograms per chocolates, Dr. Saxena said. 
By blocking protein formation in a child's body, the nickel inhibited their growth and development. If protein formation was hampered, it also meant blocking the formation of anti-bodies, rendering children more vulnerable to various infections and dreaded diseases.

NICKEL CONTENT IN CHOCOLATES
Scientist defends findings 
Dr. M.C. Saxena, executive director of the Environmental Research Laboratory (ERL), Lucknow, today, defended his findings regarding the nickel content in popular brand of chocolates manufactured in India. He quoted international standards to prove that these chocolates contain four to ten times the permitted amount of nickel and the chemical is a carcinogenic agent. Dr. Saxena demanded that the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (PFA) should be amended to include nickel among other toxic substances, such as lead and mercury.
Recently, the health ministry had denied Dr. Saxena's charge regarding excess nickel content and had given Indian chocolates a clean sources, nickel is not easily absorbed by the mammalian glands and is expelled very quickly from the system. For this reason, the Bureau of Indian Standards has not specified safe levels of nickel in chocolates. Reportedly, a survey of Indian vanaspati and chocolates by a constituent laboratory of the Indian Council of Medical Research showed that these did not have a higher level of nickel content in comparison to some European brands.
However, Dr. Saxena stood by his findings. He said, "I have not suggested that chocolates cause cancer. I have said that nickel has been classified as a carcinogenic agent and it can block messenger RNA. Nickel can be used a catalyst in making chocolates. But, if the manufacturing process is correct the catalyst (nickel) has no business to be present in the finished product. The fact that there is too much nickel in these chocolates casts doubts on their manufacturing process."
The Lucknow-based scientist claimed that tests in his laboratory proved the nickel content in some leading chocolate brands to be 15 to 1 parts per billion above the internationally accepted level. While government sources maintained that there are no international safety standards regarding nickel content, Dr. Saxena quoted figures from the international register of potentially toxic chemicals to show that the safe nickel level in milk products was fixed at 0.1 milligram per kg in the erstwhile USSR and in Czechoslovakia. According to an editorial in a leading economic daily, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA),USA, does not have any safety standard regarding nickel content in chocolates.
OVER LIMIT: But Dr. Saxena quoted figures to the effect that FDA has fixed the nickel level at 0.15 mg per kg. according to him the nickel content in Indian chocolates (including those manufactured by international companies in Indian chocolates (including those manufactured by international companies in India) is way over this limit.
The Mahila Dakshita Samiti (MDS), which has taken up this issue on a political level, also quoted a circular issued in the American embassy which allegedly states that chocolate manufacturers in India use hydrogenated vegetable oil, a cheaper substitute of cocoa utter fat, which  contains high levels of nickel. The MDS has already met the prime minister and has asked the government to publish a point by point refutation of Dr. Saxena's findings. If such a refutation is not forthcoming soon, the samiti plans to launch a mass agitation and a popular boycott of chocolates. 
Mrs. Promila Dandavate, president, MDS, also called for the amendment of the Food Prevention Act in the light of Dr. Saxena's findings. If nickel is a carcinogenic substance, it should be listed so that the consumer can seek legal  protection, she said. Dr. Saxena vehemently defended his findings and showed a video film to prove that his laboratory is fully equiped to carry out such tests on chocolates.
 
 

Cadbury's Denial on nickel
There is a storm in the chocolate field with a scientist in India alleging that nickel is added to the chocolate and may cause cancer. Cadbury's has vehemently denied this. Nickel is a natural source element present in food items consumed daily. Scientific research studies indicate that the human requirement of nickel is from 5 micrograms (mcg) to 40 micrograms per day. Source: Department of Health, U.K., 1992 and Nielson.
The trace presence of nickel in chocolate is from the ingredients used for its manufacture. 
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has reported that American chocolates contain 8 to 10 mcg/g of nickel which is in excess of nickel in Cadbury chocolates. 
C.Y. Pal,Chairman and Managing Director, Cadbury Indian Ltd., said, "Through our efforts with our association abroad and in India we have satisfactorily concluded that there is no FDA standard or regulation on nickel level in food".
 
 

Nickel content in chocolates high

With reference to the news item "chocolates may not be causing cancer" published in The Pioneer on August 21, Dr. M.C. Saxena, Executive Director Environmental Research Laboratory states: Chocolates are highly contaminated with nickel, which is a proven carcinogen (cancer causing) on the basis of availbale experimental evidence and epidemiological surveys (human surveys). Due to its high toxicity and proven carcinogenic character, safety limits have been thrashed out beyond which the consumption through any medium cannot be regarded as safe. The maximum permissible limits for nickel in dairy products including chocolates have been fixed at 0.1 mg/kg or 100 microgram per kg. As against this safety limit scientists of ERL have confirmed the presence of nickel in chocolates in the range of 15 to 41.5 ppm (parts per million) or mg/kg. which exceeds 100 to 400 times than the upper most safe limits.
 
 

Nickel content high in Indian chocolates: expert

Nickel content in the popular brands of chocolates manufactured in India, both by the Indian and international companies was about four to ten times higher than international standards, said Dr. M.C. Saxena, executive drector of the Envoronmental Research Laboratory, Lucknow.
Addresing a press conference organised by Mahila Dakshata Samiti, Dr. Saxena, demanded the amendment of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, So as to include nickel among the toxic substances banned in the Act. According to him nickel was a carcinogenic agent.
He reiterated that chocolates do not cause cancer. "I have said that nickel has been classified as a carcinogenic agent Nickel can be used as a catalyst in making chocolates, but if manufacturing process is correct, nickel should not be present in the finished product.
Contradicting alleged statements made by the Health Ministry which said that there were no international standards to regulate nickel content. Dr. Saxena quoted  figures from the International Register of Potentially Toxic Chemicals to show that safe nickel level in milk products was fixed at 0.1 mg. per kg. in Czechoslovakia, and Food and Drug Administration of USA had fixed it at 0.15 mg. per kg.
 
 

Finding on chocolates defended
Dr. M.C. Saxena, executive drirector ofthe Environmental Research Laboratory (ERL), Lucknow, yesterday  defended his findings regarding the nickel content in popular brands of chocolates manufactured in India. He quoted international standards to prove that these chocolates contain four to ten times the permitted amount of nickel and the chemical is a carcinogenic agent. Dr. Saxena demanded that the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (PFA) should be amended to include nickel among  other toxic substances, such as lead and mercury.
Recently, the Health ministry had denied Dr. Saxena's charge regarding excess nickel content and had given Indian chocolates a clean chit. According to government sources, nickel is not easily absorbed by the mammalian glands and is expelled very quickly from the system. For this reason, the Bureau of Indian Standards has not specified safe levels of nickel in chocolates. Reportedly, a survey of Indian vanaspati and chocolates by a constituent laboratory of the Indian Council of Medical Research showed that these did not have a higher level of nickel content in comparison to some European brands.
However, Dr. Saxena stood by his findings. He said, " I have not suggested that chocolates cause cancer. I have said that nickel has been classified as a carcinogenic agent and it can block messenger RNA. Nickel can be used as a catalyst in making chocolates. But if the manufacturing process is correct, the catalyst (nickel) has no business to be present in the finished product. The fact that there is too much nickel in these chocolates casts doubts on their manufacturing process."
HIGH NICKEL CONTENT: The Lucknow-based scientist claimed that tests in his laboratory proved the nickel content in some leading chocolate brands to be : 5 to 41 parts per billion above the internationally accepted level. 
While government sources maintained that there are no international safety standards regarding nickel content, Dr. Saxena quoted data from the International Register of Potentially Toxic Chemicals to show that the safe nickel level in milk products was fixed at 0.1 milligram per kg in the erstwhile USSR and in Czechslovakia.
According to an editorial in a leading Economic daily, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), USA,does not have any safety standard regarding nickel content in chocolates. But Dr. Saxena quoted figures to the effect that FDA has fixed the nickel level at 0.15 mg per kg. According to him the nickel content in Indian chocolates (including those manufactured y international companies in India) is way over this limit.
 The Mahila Dakshita Samita (MDS), which has taken up this issue on a political level, also quoted a circular issued in the American embassy which allegedly states that chocolate manufacturers in India use hydrogenated vegetable oil, a cheaper substitute of cocoa butter fat, which contains high levels of nickel. The MDS has already met the Prime Minister and has asked the government to publish a point by point refutation of Dr. Saxena's findings.
 
 

Expert dares Govt on chocolates

The executive director of Environmental Research Laboratory (ERL), Lucknow, Dr. M.C. Saxena, whose findings on the excessive nickel content in Indian chocolates raised a controversy, has challenged Health Ministry claims that Indian chocolates were safe.
Addressing presspersons here on Thrusday, Dr. Saxena accused the four Government laboratories that had carried out the analysis on chopcolates, of being biased. 
He quoted the example of the test results of the Bhabha Atomic Research Institute which had carried out an analysis on two samples of Amul chocolates and alleged that the samples had not been selected at random. 
Dr. Saxena said it was ridiculous that these results were being taken as gospel on the basis of two samples whereas the ERL, which had analysed 50 random samples of each brand before computing its data.
He said one laboratory-Italab Private Ltd, Bombay, had in its test results even gone to the extent of declaring that the nickel content in Amul milk chocolate was nil.
Dr. Saxena accused Ms. Devi Mukherjee, additional director general, Protection of Food and Adultration (PFA), Health Ministry, of vested interests. He said she had requested him for information on his findings for replies to questions asked in Parliament. All the relevant information had been sent to her and yet none of it had been disclosed in Parliament, he said. 
It was strange, he said, for  Ms. Mukherjee had been holding the post for over a decade now.
Defending his findings, Dr. Saxena pointed out that toxologists in Food and Drug Administration Department (FDA), while replying to queries by the American embassy had said that Indian chocolates contained 2 to 4 times more nickel than American chocolates.
He also defended thae resting calibre of ERL and said as far as testing nickel was concerned, the laboratory was fully equipped with the most sophisticated instruments prescribed internationally.
Regarding the permitted concentration of nickel in food itmes, he said the Ministry of Health. Czechoslovakia, had recommended 0.1 ppm (parts per million) of nickel in milk products and 0.5  ppm in meat, fish and vegetable products.
A similar regulation had been enforced in the USSR recommending 0.5 ppm in fish products and cereals and 0.1 ppm in milk.
According to him, in India, there had been no standard specification laid down with regards to nickel and stressed it was necessary to list it as a toxic metal in the FDA.
He warned that nickel was highly toxic and was specially harmful in the case of children as it tended to inhibit growth. The International Registry of Potentially Toxic Chemicals had pronounced it as potentially carcinogenic and it also affected anti-body formation. 
He emphasised that research in ERL  had found that there was a co-relation between the copper nickel ratio in connection with premature greying. Findings had revealed that nickel content was much higher in persons with grey hair while copper was higher in those with black.
Dr. Saxena said the laboratory was now engaged in scrutinising all the contaminants in chocolates apart from nickel and indicated that there were even more dreaded substances present in Indian chocolates apart from nickel.
Dr. Saxena also displayed two chocolates  which did not have their batch no. or expiry date listed, which according to him was an offence under law.
 
 

The 'bitter' taste of chocolates
CHOCOLATES can cause cancer. This startling revelation was made by the Environmental Research Laboratory here today. 
In an exclusive to 'The Pionee' Dr. M.C. Saxena, executive director of the laboratory, said that after prolonged research and experimentation, the laboratory said that after prolonged research and experimentation, the laboratory had established that most Indian chocolates contain nickle which is a proven carcinogenous (cancer causing substance.The institute plans to forward the detailed report to the Government very soon.
Mr. Saxena alleged that instead of the usual dairy cream the Indian chocolate industry is drifting to using hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) as the melting pont ofthe latteris 42 degrees which is much higher than that of dairy cream. Consequently, chocolates do not melt even in high temperatures.
He also pointed out that normal body temperature is about 32 degrees and health organisations should not allow the sale and consumption of items which have such a high  melting point as it could prove to be extremely detrimental to health. 
Th consumption of nickle contaminate chocolates can lead to lung and nasal cancer and also premature greying of hair Since children are themain consumers of chocolates the health hazards can be even greater as they have less resistance, "Since chocolates are generally consumed in bulk quantity of at least 36 grams. negative dose effect would be greater than chronic effect Mr. Saxena said.
The presence of nickle in HVO had been discovered and publicised by the ERL in July last year. The laboratory had reported that all brans of HVO contain 20 to 28 parts per million nickle. In some cases, the concentration is as high as 36 ppm. The maximum allowable content of nickle in edible items advocated by the IRPTC (an international body) is 5 mg/kg or 5ppm.
Nickle is used as a catalyst in the hydrogenation process of HVO. The residue remains in the oil and is consumed. Mr. Saxena pointed out that it HVO companies took the trouble of updating technology to filter the oil through agents like nickle sulphates the residue nickle in the oil would be bound with the nickle sulphate and prevented from contaminating the oil.
Regarding the carcinogenous effect of nickle, the WHO has cariied on extensive research in the matter and specified beyond doubt that nickle can cause cancer. 
The issue of nickle contamination of HVO was raised on the floor of the House on August 8 last year where most of the points raised were taken cognizace of by the government buttill date nothing has been done in this regard. 
Though thegovernment admitted the fact that HVO was contaminated by nickle, no standards have been laid down as regards the presence ofthe metal in edible oil and other food stuff by the Bureau of Indian Standards. The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act too has made no mention of prevention of nickle contamination.
"I have approached the government numerous times but till date no concrete steps have been taken. Recently we have learnt from well placed sources that the government is finally contemplating fixing certain standards. We can only hope for the best" Mr. Saxena said.
There are no chocolate manufacturing units in the city but a number of distributers of various brands of chocolates have expressed their doubts about the veracity of the ERL's experimentation. They said that they would get in touvh with the manufacturing units immediately to clarify their positions.

Choco war hots up
NEW DELHI & LUCKNOW: Multinational chocolate manufacturers, stung to the quick by the allegations by the Environmental Researcjh Laboratory, that their products have significant presence of nickel, have allegedly begun to withdraw their nickel tainted chocolated from the market. 
The allegations, which first surfaced last year, triggered off a sense of panic in the chocolate market, with multinationals questioning theveracity of the Environment "Research Laboratory and Director Dr. M.C. Saxena also alleges complicity of the Union Health Ministry to bail out the guilty manufacturers. 
In his findings published in both scientific hournals and mainstream press, Saxena alleged that nickel was present in very significant quantities in Indian chocolates.

Milk chocolates under fire 
The milk of human kindness might not be strained but the milk and chocolates of private companies are both strained and contaminated, according to various speakers at a seminar on milk and milk products organised by the Mahila Dakshata Samiti (MDS) in the Capital yesterday.
Speakers at the seminar criticised the government for delicensing the dairy sector in order to invite private investment and predicted severe milk shortages as a consequence. A Lucknow based scientist, Dr. M.C. Saxena,also spoke about the presence of dangerous levels of nickel in many of the chocolates manufactured by leading companies and warned that nickel was a carcinogenic element.
Dr. Saxena, formerly associated with Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research warned against contaminated hydrogenatedvegetable oils and chocolates. In both the cases, he said, the nickel level is way above the safety limit. Regretting that nickel has not been listed among dangerous additives in the Indian Food Adulteration Act, Dr. Saxena stressed that nickel was a poisonous metal which caused cancer and other health problems 
MELTING : According to Dr. Saxena, nickel is added in hazardous quantities to Indian chocolates to prevent them from melting soon, in view of the relatively higher temperatures prevalent in the subcontinent. Nickel serves as a hardening agent and a catalyst. He noted that foreign manufactured chocolates melt much sooner in India than those manufactured locally by India than those manufactured locally by Indian or multi-national companies. Reportedly, the World Health Organisation has already classified nickel as a carcinogenic and a reputable international laboratory has confirmed Dr. Saxena's findings regarding contaminated Indian chocolates. 
According to the MDS, Dr. Saxena's findings were reported by the national media last year but have been ignored thereafter. Incidentally, the United States embassy in Delhi is reported to have asked its staff to avoid eating Indian  chocolates following the publication of Dr.Saxena's findings.
Mr. Rabi Ray, former speaker of the Lok Sabha, strongly criticised the government's decision to delicense milk and open up the sector to private enterprise. He warned of disastrous consequences for the nation due to large scale shortage of milk. Mr. Ray said, a strong infrastructure of milk co-operatives had been built over the past 20 years and now the government is upsetting this very structure. The decision to delicense milk will only lead to the mushrooming ofprivate units which will divert liquid milk into the production of more profitable milk products.
In her key-note address, Mrs. Pramila Dandavate, prominent women activist and  former MP, commended the achievements of Operation Flood which has been behind the rise of liquid milk production in the country from 22 million tons in 1960 to the current levels of 56 million tons. However, she added, the achievement of the Operation Flood programme in the country, on which about Rs. 2000 crores has been spent, was negated when the present government dclicensed such and essentail commodity as milk.
According to Mrs. Dandavate, the state has kept the cost of liquid milk at a reasonable level for the benefit of the general public over the years. However, the prices of milk products, which are generally brought by the affluent, have been allowed to rise freely. Therefore with the delicensing of milk, private companies will corner the liquid milk production and divert it into the manufacture of more profitable milk products like chocolate and cheese. This would cause a severe shortage of liquid milk in the country.
Pointing out that more than 90 percent of the dairy industry is under the control of cooperatives in nations like Holland, Denmark and Germany, Mrs Dandavate warned, delicensing of the dairy industry is likely to allow entry of multi-nationals which will effectively kill the cooperative sector.Other speakers at the seminar, including Mrs Kailash Rekhi, vice president of MDS, also criticised the government's decision to delicense the dairy sector.

Chocolates: The nickel scare
How could we ever do anything to harm you? Behind the plaintive query that prefaces the current advertising blitiz of Cadbury's chocolates, there is a real worry.
When prominated vegetable oil (BVO), an ingredient used in the manufacture of soft drinks, was declared unsafe for human consumption, there  was a temporary but steep drop in soft drink sales. Today chocolate manufacturers are concerned that a recent study by Lucknow-based Doctor M.C. Saxena may prompt health- conscious consumers to cut down their consumption of the sweet stuff Dr. Saxena claims that an unacceptable level of nickel in Indian chocolates drains down natural resistance in children, as it is carcinogenic, and is the prime cause of premature greying of hair.
Dr. Saxena has alleged that, as per his measurements, the presence of nickel in chocolates made by four major manufacturers in the country is between 15 and 41.5 microgrammes per gramme (mcg/g), which in his view is much above safety limits.
The findings first surfaced exactly a year ago and forced the, Indian Confectionary Manufacturers' Association to convene an emergency meeting in New Delhi. 
The matter has surfaced all overagain, with the doctor reiterating the same allegations "We have strong reservations regarding the work carried out by Dr. Saxena"  claims C.Y. Pal Chairman and Managing Director of Cadbury, "Nickel is a natural trace  element consumed daily. Scientific research studies conducted by the UK Department of Health indicate that requirement of nickel varies between 5 and 40 microgrammes (mcg) per day".
"The products of Cadbury, when tested , indicate the presence of approximately one mcg/g. No nickel is added in the process of manufacture  and whatever trace is present comes from the major ingradients, namely, milk and cocoa. The chemical reagents used must be of the purest quality, and free from traces of nickel," he contended. 
V. Kurien, the moving force behind Amul, is also livid at the apparently ill researched and hasty statement issued by Dr. Saxena. He stressed the fact that nickel is present in many foods, even in air and drinking water "Must we then stop drinking water and breathing?" he asked, " This  so-called research is based on all the wrong assumptions".
Mr. Pal claimed that nickel is considered an essential part of the diet for biochemical functions Research studies in the UK indicate that dally intake of nickel can be upto 800kg. per day and this research has given no evidence of carcinogenic activity from oral intake of nickel through food. "It is our intention to take Dr. Saxena to court," he said.
"The strong reaction should come as no surprise. After all, Cadbury is the undisputed prima donna of the Indian chocolate market that currently produces Rs. 142 crore (1991-92 sales) worth of sundry milk-based confectioneries every year in the organised sector. 
Until Nestle's stopped in during November 1990, there was not a single serious competitor to disturb Cadbury's near-monopolilstic stranglehold. Amul marked by the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation had over the previous five years made a minor dent managing a market share of around 10 percent to the market leader's gargantuan 72 percent.
Nestle's after an expensive promotion carnpaign in February this year, had managed to snatch a 15 per cent share, which subsequent ORG figures show to have dwindled to 12 percent. Amul's share has also shrunk to a little over six per cent. 
Among the othere brands, Sathe, Parry's. Parles, Camco and Dr. Writer's share the remaining ten percent and the market between them Dr. Writer's has not been on dealer shelves of late because the firm sentite manufacturing capicity was bought over by Cadbury's  to augment the latter's.
 Nestle had produced a well co-ordinated test launched its Swiss taste of chocolates in Bombay and Pune to counter the essentially English flavor of the formidable Cadbury's did not let the gas under its feet, and pre-empted Nestle's grand launch by coming out a month earlier with 'All Silk' a dairy chocolate cast in the Swiss mould.
Also launched in 1990 by the market leader was overtime a set of exclusive and expensive individual chocolates (as opposed to bars). Each little chocolate today costs upwards of Rs.7, and a small pack of adozen chocolates  is priced at a steep Rs. 80. The chocolates are incidentally available only them Cadbury's own outlet, set outside their offices at Mahalakshmi, Bombay. 
The chocolate market has been growing during the last decade at a compound annual rate of 15 percent from about 2,200 tonnes of chocolate in 1979, Cadbury's current sales have touched 10,000 tonnes.
The leaders, however, cannot afford to rest on their laurels. Nestle will, in all livelihood. launch another attack. With their overseas principal having bought over Howntree of the UK, it is likely that the popular 'Kit Kat' line will soon be intoduced in this country.
There is more competition coming up Britannia Industires have launched a tie-up with a newly set up company called Lotus Chocolates based in Hyderabad. One understands that the main promoter in Lotus is the Southern film star Sharda. Another company. Swiss Health Foods, is in the process of setting up a facility at Baroda. The nickel scare notwithstanding, the manor players in the Rs. 175-crore chocolate industry will not be disuaded from wooing the sweet- toothed.

THE LEGAL IMPLICATIONS ON THIS ISSUE AS PER PREVENTION OF FOOD ADULTERATION ACT,1954

Page No. 212
 ¹⁴A.19 ¹⁵[* * *] VANASPATI means any refined edible vegetable oil ils, subjected to a process of hydrogenation in any form. It shall be prepared by hydrogenation from groundnut oil, cotton seed oil and sesame oil or mixtures thereof or any other harmless vegetable oils allowed by the Government for the purpose. ¹⁶[Refined sal seed fat, if used, shall not be more than 10 percent of the total oil mix.] It shall conform to the standards specified below:
(i) It shall not contain any harmful colouring, flavouring or any other matter deleterious to health;
(ii) No colour shall be added to hydrogenateed vegetable oil unless so authorised by Government, but in no event any colour resembling the colour of ghee shall be added;
(iii) If any flavour is used, it shall be distinct from that of ghee, in accordance with a list of permissible flavours and in such quantities as may be prescribed by Government:
¹⁷[Provided that diacetyl to the extent of not more than 4.0 p.p.m. may be added to Vanaspati exclusively meant for consumption by the Armed Forces;]
(iv) It shall not have moisture exceeding 0.25 per cent;
(v) The melting point as determined by capillary slip method shall be from ¹⁸[31⁰C] to ¹⁹[14⁰C] both inclusive;
(vi) The Butyro-refractometer reading as 40⁰C, shall not be less than 48;
(vii) It shall not have unsaponifiable matter exceeding ²⁰[2.0] per cent; ^20a[but in case of vanaspati where proportion of rice bran oil is more than 30 percent by weight, the unsaponifiable matter shall be not more than 2.5 per cent by weight provided quantity of rice bran oil is declared on the label of such vanaspati as laid down in clause(zzz) (4) of Rule 42;]
(viii) It shall not have free fatty acids (calculated as oleic acid) exceeding 0.25 per cent;
(ix) The product on melting shall be clear in appearance and shall be free from staleness or rancidity, and pleasant to taste and smell;
(x) It shall contain raw or refined sesame (til) oil ^20b[in sufficient quantity] so that when the vanaspati is mixed with refined groundnut oil in the proportion of 20:80, the colour produced by the Baudouin test shall not be lighter than 2.0 red units in a 1 cm. cell on a Lovibond scale;
²¹[ (xi) It shall contain not less than 25 I.U. of synthetic Vitamin 'A' per gram at the time of packing ²³[and shall show a positive test for Vitamin 'A' when tested by Antimony Trichloride (Carr-Price0 reagent 9as per IS : 5886-1970)];}
²³[ (xii) No anti-oxidant, synergist, emulsifier or any other such substance be added to it except with the prior sanction of the Government;]]
^23a[ (xiii) It shall not have nickel exceeding 1.5 ppm.]