Public views sought on food safety Act

The Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSA) will soon be publishing all the standards stipulated in the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, for public knowledge, and suggestions can be forwarded to the Authority for consideration.

Eight scientific panels, one scientific committee and 120 scientists would process them, said Mr V. Gaur, Chief Executive Officer, FSSA, here recently.

Addressing an awareness meeting on ‘Food Safety and Standards Act', organised by the Madurai District Tiny and Small-Scale Industries Association (Maditssia), Mr Gaur said that the philosophy of the authority is to take stakeholders along. . Tracing the genesis of the Act, culminating ina single uniform Act for the country for the first time, he said that the journey has just started as the law is yet to be implemented and only the structural edifice is being built up. The training programme is on for officials in charge of implementation. . As suggestions are considered, changes would be effected but the course is a time-bound process and amendments to the law haveto be through Parliament, he added.

Earlier, Mr S.P. Jeyaprakasam, President, Tamil Nadu Foodgrains Merchants Association and Mr K.R. Gnanasambandan, Vice-President, Tamil Nadu Small and Tiny Industries Association, expressed their apprehensions about the law under implementation.