Hygiene off menu of most eateries

Deadline For Mandatory Registration Extended Four Times, Notices Issued Yet Response From Food Biz Poor

Wednesday is the deadline for food opera tors to register with or get licences from the food safety department, but less than 10,000 of the 50,000-odd restaurants in the city have enrolled. This implies hygiene isn't high on the menu of most eatery operators.

Food safety officials say the response from food operators has been poor even though several notices were issued and the deadline for registration was extended four times. The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 has set new licensing and registration norms for food businesses--hotels, restaurants, canteens, hostels, roadside eateries, dairy shops, tea shops, meat shops, juice shops and vegetable and fruits vendors. The Act was implemented in August 2011, and the Centre extended the deadline multiple times because food operators resisted the rules for mandatory registration and licensing.

The food safety department does not have a count of the number of food operators in the city , but say it has identified 22,424 of them. Till Monday , only 9,934 had enrolled. Of these, 6,231 got licences and 3,703 registered.

An official said many food operators are not taking the Act seriously because of the numerous exten sions. “We were unable to take action against busi nesses that sell unhygien ic food because of the ex tensions. We hope the government will not ex tend the deadline any more,“ he said.

Former director of public health Dr S Elango said there is a little coordination between the local bodies and food safety department. “The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act has been replaced with Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006 but the food safety department doesn't have ward-level staff like the corporation,“ he said. Sources said the department has only 25 food safety inspectors to monitor thousands of shops in the city .

Tamil Nadu Hotels' Association secretary R Srinivasan said the Act is stringent and impractical. “There should be an amendment to reduce the penalties because they are too harsh. We cannot ensure safe food as the pesticide in food particles is high,“ he said.

Many roadside vendors said they are unaware about the Act. A fast food vendor in Teynampet said, “Corporation officials and policemen regularly collect bribes from us, but I have not heard about registering with the food safety department.“

A senior food safety official said they are conducting inspections. “We have collected food samples and issued improvement notices to 147 establishments,“ he said.

Activists said lack of awareness could be a reason for laxity. “The government will not have control over food operators if there is no licensing system. It should implement the Act immediately to safeguard customers,“ said Santhana Rajan of Consumer Association of India.