PATNA: Food safety norms are finding no takers in majority of eateries which have mushroomed in every nook and corner of the city. The guidelines envisaged by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) are seldom followed in most eateries in the city.
According to FSSAI norms, cooks and other food handlers are not allowed to wear rings on their fingers. They are also supposed to use gloves and skull caps. Raw materials should be sourced from only licenced wholesalers or retailers. The ingredients used in making main dishes should also be displayed in the kitchens and cooking vessels should not be kept on floor.
However, the eatery owners do not seem to care much about these norms. Pankaj Kumar (35), who owns a Chinese food stall at Maurya Lok, said, “Who cares about hygiene? We are poor and we need to keep our stomach full anyhow.”
Vinod Kumar, who runs a stall of ‘panipuri’ near Fraser Road, too seemed less bothered about flies invading food items at his stall. “I have a family to run and this is my way of earning. Hygiene doesn’t matter to me,” he said.
Some restaurant owners, however, claimed that they follow food safety norms prescribed by the FSSAI. Roomi Quazi Ekta, who owns a restaurant at Dak Bungalow crossing, said he has strictly instructed his employees to sanitise their hands and wear hand gloves before entering the kitchen. “We do not serve anything which is harmful to the health of our consumers,” he added.
Residents too seem unaware about the manner in which food is prepared and served in hotels. One Madhuri Kumari (19), who was seen eating food at a roadside eatery at Maurya Lok on Thursday, said, “Hotels maintain hygiene but we cannot afford to eat there.”
A senior health department official said eateries and hotels in the city are regularly inspected. “We collect food samples from the eateries and hotels and take necessary action in case of violation of food safety norms,” he added.
State health department principal secretary Sanjay Kumar said people in food business are trained regularly so that they can adhere to food safety norms.
Kaushal Kishore, additional secretary in health department, said, “We had collected around 7,000 food samples from eateries and hotels across the state in the last fiscal (2018-19). Of them, 500 samples were found to be completely below the mark. Action is being taken against the eateries based on the nature of violation of food safety norms. The measures include penalty, prosecution and closure of erring units. We collected around Rs 17 lakh in the last fiscal from eateries violating food safety norms.”
He added, “The inspection is carried out either periodically or randomly. We will soon start video-based online inspection by food safety inspectors.”
Kishore said though the food safety wing of the state health department has only 14 food safety officers, a proposal for increasing the strength to 105 has been sent to the state government. “The central government has also sanctioned Rs 5 crore for upgradation of food safety lab in Bihar,” he added.
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