BHUBANESWAR: Apart from shopping and pandal hopping, eating out during Durga Puja is considered a must. However, one must be careful
as the food being served outside comes with its own set of risks. But
to make the situation worse, the government does not have sufficient
staff to do a quality check this festive season.
There are only ten food safety officers (FSOs) for the 30 districts. As each FSO has to take care of at least three districts, the food quality check would remain highly ineffective, sources believed.
Government authorities said despite the manpower crunch, they are trying their best to manage the situation by asking officers to concentrate more on areas which will be inviting the largest of crowds.
"I understand we don't have sufficient staff to undertake effective quality control during the festive rush. However, we have asked officers to concentrate more on cities such as Cuttack and Bhubaneswar where the turnout of people is huge. Special squads have been constituted to check random checks of food samples during the festive season to ensure that these adhere to minimum quality standards," said director public health Dr Alekh Sahoo said.
Sahoo said the staff crunch problem would be over by the end of this year. "We have started the process to recruit 28 more officers. Scrutiny is on. All formalities would be over by the year-end," he said.
After Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations 2011 was notified on August 1, 2011 by the Food Safety Standardization Authority of India (FSSAI), a statutory body under the Union health ministry to handle food related issues, the government re-designated the food inspectors as FSOs. However, because of their dwindling numbers, implementation of the regulations remains almost a non-starter in the state. "As per the notification, we have time till February 2013 to comply with the various provisions," another senior government officer said.
There were 26 posts of food inspectors in state, 16 of which were lying vacant. The government named them FSOs and increased the number of posts to 38. Besides 30 FSOs for the 30 districts, 12 major towns will have one FSO each, government sources said
There are only ten food safety officers (FSOs) for the 30 districts. As each FSO has to take care of at least three districts, the food quality check would remain highly ineffective, sources believed.
Government authorities said despite the manpower crunch, they are trying their best to manage the situation by asking officers to concentrate more on areas which will be inviting the largest of crowds.
"I understand we don't have sufficient staff to undertake effective quality control during the festive rush. However, we have asked officers to concentrate more on cities such as Cuttack and Bhubaneswar where the turnout of people is huge. Special squads have been constituted to check random checks of food samples during the festive season to ensure that these adhere to minimum quality standards," said director public health Dr Alekh Sahoo said.
Sahoo said the staff crunch problem would be over by the end of this year. "We have started the process to recruit 28 more officers. Scrutiny is on. All formalities would be over by the year-end," he said.
After Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations 2011 was notified on August 1, 2011 by the Food Safety Standardization Authority of India (FSSAI), a statutory body under the Union health ministry to handle food related issues, the government re-designated the food inspectors as FSOs. However, because of their dwindling numbers, implementation of the regulations remains almost a non-starter in the state. "As per the notification, we have time till February 2013 to comply with the various provisions," another senior government officer said.
There were 26 posts of food inspectors in state, 16 of which were lying vacant. The government named them FSOs and increased the number of posts to 38. Besides 30 FSOs for the 30 districts, 12 major towns will have one FSO each, government sources said
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