Food safety department inspects Tamil Nadu mid-day meal centres

Chennai: The state food safety department has taken samples from mid-day meal centres across Tamil Nadu and also inspected the centres to assess the quality of food prepared and the environment in which food is served to children.

After the death of 23 children in Bihar a fortnight ago, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) officials in Tamil Nadu worked to collect samples of food from anganwadi and mid-day meal centres in various government schools and are also engaged in filing a report on cleanliness and hygiene in these centres.

A senior FSSAI official told DC that the test result of food samples would be released within two weeks and government would ensure all lacunae are fixed. “During our inspection, we found that some centres did not have a hygienic environment and the food prepared in the centres could be improved upon. We will give this report to government shortly,” said the officer.

Stating that government spends less than Re1 for a child’s mid-day meal, child rights activist A. Devaneyan said, “The quality of food should be checked often by the FSSAI. The government should come forward to increase the amount of money spent for vegetables. The prices of vegetables and other ingredients are increasing every day and noon meal workers are forced to provide poor quality food. This will not fight malnutrition in an effective manner."

He noted that noon meal workers were not given any refreshment training regularly to work with children. “Providing food is not just feeding food for hunger but also serving good quality food for the physical and mental growth of children,” he pointed out.