Focus on anganwadis, school canteens: Prabhakar - THE HINDU

Government’s focus will be on Anganwadis, school canteens and toddy shops to promote a healthy food regime, Commissioner of Food Safety, Biju Prabhakar, has said.He was speaking at a food safety seminar organised by the Federation of Residents’ Association, Thiruvananthapuram (FRAT) at the Press Club on Friday.
Attacking the skewed structure of governance itself, he said undue importance was still being proffered to the Survey Department.
He said it was essential to keep in mind that there lacked a civic culture in the State.
Mr. Prabhakar said the Food Safety and Standards Act was “scientific and pragmatic”. Commenting on some of the recent shut-down cases, he said, “Some of the cases were isolated incidents of negligence.”
He also stressed that a number of factors needed to be kept in mind, including false complaints. According to him, over 90 per cent of the complaints made were merely intended to incriminate a business that posed a viable competition. He also responded to a complaint regarding transportation of fish in freezers containing ammonium sulphate, and promised action.
Mr. Prabhakar also said certain habits needed to be inculcated at the home level itself, such as not constantly freezing and re-heating the same food and to veer away from food colouring, known to contain carcinogenic compounds.