Hitches hamper functioning of food safety officers

Though tempting, roadside eateries can cause stomach ailments 

Transition period problems are being overcome: officials

Too many hitches seem to hamper the functioning of food safety officers (FSO).

Delay in issue of a GO bringing them under the Department of Public Health and Family Welfare has prevented the 500-odd food safety officers from receiving their first month's salary till date.

Repealing the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006 was brought in creating the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. Food safety officers come under the Food Safety Commissionerate.

The State, which implemented the new system, brought in 385 FSOs for rural areas, 148 for urban areas, besides 30-odd in reserve.

Sanitary inspectors in local bodies were designated as food safety officers.

The first hitch the FSOs now faced was that they have not received their first month's salary.

Enquiries revealed that tallying of pay particulars and creation of a separate code and head of account for the treasury to disburse the salary had led to the delay.

Sources also clarified that the disbursement of salaries for the FSOs would take place within the next three to four working days.

Going by the number of trades listed and merchants existing, Tamil Nadu is the only State to have gone in for creation of more than 500 FSO posts, so that the objective of food safety could be achieved preventing adulteration by frequent inspections. However, the FSOs initially faced a problem of not having any National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration of Laboratories (NABL) accredited laboratory. The FSOs need to lift food samples in the event of a suspicion of adulteration. The samples need to be sent to a laboratory.

Food Safety and Standards Act stipulates that testing of food samples done only by laboratories which have the certification by the NABL.

There are six laboratories in Tamil Nadu at Coimbatore, Madurai, Thanjavur, Pudukottai and two at Chennai. However, the Government notified that the samples could be tested at the existing laboratories and a GO has already been issued and one-year transition time is given enabling the utilisation of the existing laboratories.

These laboratories have already commenced the process for NABL certification.

Sources also pointed out that making sanitary inspectors as food safety officers and bringing them under Department of Food and Drug Control under the Public Health and Family Welfare was in contravention to the constitutional provision. Sources said that Article 243 (w) of the Constitution and XIIth schedule says that Food Safety under Public Health is the power and responsibility of the local self governments i.e., local bodies.

Officials disputing the contention said that almost all the States excepting in only one local body in Gujarat, the food safety has come under the purview of the Government relieving the local bodies of that responsibility.

The objective of taking away food safety from the local bodies to a separate department was to ensure undivided attention on the department.

If the FSOs continued with the local bodies, the chances of they being frequently drafted for other pressing works of the local body was more, thus defeating the objective of food safety.