Srinagar, June 23: The credible reports about high percentage of adulterants in the milk may have alarmed the common consumer, but it has not moved the State Food Safety Authority!
According to sources the Authority has yet to train its manpower to check the food adulteration and regulate quality of edibles, as is required under the provisions of Food Safety Act, 2006.
Sources said: “The Food Safety Officers of the Authority were not trained at all as was required under the provisions of the new Act that was implemented from 2011.”
“Even as prior to coming of the new Act, the officers were given a statutory training of three months, but they don’t know anything about the provisions of the Act 2006,” sources said, questioning how could the officers do their duties without any training?
“Some of the safety officers have conveyed to me about their helplessness in dealing with the violators of the Food and Safety Standards Act 2006,” said a designated officer of the Authority on condition of anonymity.
Pertinently, last month, a 3-day programme “training of trainers” was organized by Food and Safety Authority of India to equip and enrich the Designated Officers and Additional Deputy Commissioners with the new changes brought in the Act 2006.
As per the Act the Designated Officers are required to train the Food Safety Officers.
According to the section 43 of the Act, the food safety personnel across India need to equip and enrich themselves about the shift (changes in new act) in the shortest possible time, failing which the food safety works would suffer serious setbacks and would nullify the positive changes that are purported to be brought in by the new Act (FSSA).
Furthermore, the Act states that the existing food regulatory staff is focused on sampling and prosecution and may not be equipped to carry out the much wider range of responsibilities envisaged under the Act.
The Food Safety regulators including State Food Safety Commissioners, Designated Officers, Adjudicating Officers and Food Safety Officers have to acquire requisite dedicated national level Capacity building program for various categories of Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act, 1954 and are to be involved in granting licenses to various categories of Food Business Operators.
In this backdrop, FSSAI has devised interim induction programs modules to be taken up as an initial exercise to make existing food safety regulators well acquainted with wide spectrum of regulatory provisions and new concepts developed in various regulatory mechanisms under the FSS Act, 2006.
Apart from training them, the Act calls for training those officers who have also aptitude for training others, “This will enable the concerned States to cope with the changed mandate of the FSS Act, 2006 and would make the migration smother for various stakeholders in the concerned States.”
Official in the department wishing anonymity said that despite a huge talent pool of students from Food Technology, Dairy Technology, Biotechnology or Oil Technology, Agricultural Science, Veterinary Sciences, Bio-Chemistry, etc, the department has “failed” to hire them as Food Safety Officers through concerned agencies.
When contacted Commissioner Food Safety J&K, Satish Gupta, said, “We have already trained the officers last year.”
According to sources the Authority has yet to train its manpower to check the food adulteration and regulate quality of edibles, as is required under the provisions of Food Safety Act, 2006.
Sources said: “The Food Safety Officers of the Authority were not trained at all as was required under the provisions of the new Act that was implemented from 2011.”
“Even as prior to coming of the new Act, the officers were given a statutory training of three months, but they don’t know anything about the provisions of the Act 2006,” sources said, questioning how could the officers do their duties without any training?
“Some of the safety officers have conveyed to me about their helplessness in dealing with the violators of the Food and Safety Standards Act 2006,” said a designated officer of the Authority on condition of anonymity.
Pertinently, last month, a 3-day programme “training of trainers” was organized by Food and Safety Authority of India to equip and enrich the Designated Officers and Additional Deputy Commissioners with the new changes brought in the Act 2006.
As per the Act the Designated Officers are required to train the Food Safety Officers.
According to the section 43 of the Act, the food safety personnel across India need to equip and enrich themselves about the shift (changes in new act) in the shortest possible time, failing which the food safety works would suffer serious setbacks and would nullify the positive changes that are purported to be brought in by the new Act (FSSA).
Furthermore, the Act states that the existing food regulatory staff is focused on sampling and prosecution and may not be equipped to carry out the much wider range of responsibilities envisaged under the Act.
The Food Safety regulators including State Food Safety Commissioners, Designated Officers, Adjudicating Officers and Food Safety Officers have to acquire requisite dedicated national level Capacity building program for various categories of Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act, 1954 and are to be involved in granting licenses to various categories of Food Business Operators.
In this backdrop, FSSAI has devised interim induction programs modules to be taken up as an initial exercise to make existing food safety regulators well acquainted with wide spectrum of regulatory provisions and new concepts developed in various regulatory mechanisms under the FSS Act, 2006.
Apart from training them, the Act calls for training those officers who have also aptitude for training others, “This will enable the concerned States to cope with the changed mandate of the FSS Act, 2006 and would make the migration smother for various stakeholders in the concerned States.”
Official in the department wishing anonymity said that despite a huge talent pool of students from Food Technology, Dairy Technology, Biotechnology or Oil Technology, Agricultural Science, Veterinary Sciences, Bio-Chemistry, etc, the department has “failed” to hire them as Food Safety Officers through concerned agencies.
When contacted Commissioner Food Safety J&K, Satish Gupta, said, “We have already trained the officers last year.”
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