Every Pure Bites article tagged food safety.
Nutrition & health
What is the red warning label on packaged food, and is it mandatory yet?
India’s food regulator has proposed a red hexagon on the front of packaged food that is high in fat, sugar or salt, and the Supreme Court has reserved its order. What is proposed, what is still undecided, and how to read the back of a pack in the meantime.
Fresh & quality
Is packaged namkeen “ultra-processed”, and is homemade really any better if it is also fried?
India is the fastest-growing market for ultra-processed food in the world, and the packet of namkeen on the shelf is part of that number. Fried farsan from a kitchen is not — but it is still fried. What the NOVA system actually counts, what a packet adds that a kadai does not, and where “fresh” makes no difference at all.
Fresh & quality
How do I know if the samosa or gathiya I am buying was fried in old oil — and how bad is that really?
Oil that has been through a fryer for days looks, smells and tastes different, and so does the snack that came out of it. Six checks anyone can do at the counter, what FSSAI’s 25% total-polar-compounds limit actually measures, what the health evidence says, and how many times a home kadai can honestly reuse oil.
Smart snacking
Is the palm oil in my namkeen bad for me, and how do I even tell if it is in there?
Palm oil is legal, cheap and in most packaged namkeen — the government confirmed as much in Parliament this August. Four label checks that tell you in half a minute whether your packet has it, what the fuss is actually about, and what it is not.
Kitchen & sourcing
Was my meal really made today?
From the market at half past five to the last sealed bowl. What a salad day actually looks like in our kitchen, including the parts that are dull.
Fresh & quality
My namkeen goes soft within a week of opening the packet.
Namkeen goes soft for one reason and it is not age. Four rules from a kitchen that packs it every day — including the one everybody gets wrong about the fridge.
Fresh & quality
My greens are limp by the next morning.
Greens do not die of age. They die of moisture, warmth and a bruise. Six storage rules from the person who packs every Pure Bites order.
Fresh & quality
I can’t tell fresh produce from produce that just looks fresh.
Our head chef buys produce six mornings a week. These are the checks he actually uses at the mandi — stem, weight, smell, cut — and they work just as well in your own kitchen.
Ordering well
I can’t see the kitchen my food comes from, so I don’t know whether to trust it.
You cannot see a cloud kitchen. Here are the things you can check instead — the licence number, the questions worth asking, and the answers that should worry you.