Hospital food: NGO plans to move court against FDA

NAGPUR: A consumer rights organization from the city is considering moving court against the regional Food and Drugs Administration (FDA). This NGO had received complaints about the quality of food being served at the two state-run hospitals of the city. When tested at the local FDA laboratory, these food items were declared safe. However, when sent to the referral lab at Mysore, the samples were declared sub-standard and unsafe.

In June last year, Anti-adulteration Consumer Society had received complaints from patients at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) and Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital (IGMCH) about the quality of food in the hospitals. Samples of the food items were first sent to FDA's laboratory in the city where they were deemed fit for human consumption. A couple of months later, the same products were sent to Mysore where they were declared substandard.

"We have been following the issue for a long time now. Till today, no action has been taken in the issue. It seems that some officials are working hand in glove with manufacturers and trying to push the issue under the carpet," said chairman of the NGO Shahid Sharif. The products under question were soyabean oil (Kirti Gold), tur dal (Warrior), chilli powder (Suswad) and garam masala (Suruchi). It is learnt, though, that GMCH has since changed the food supplier.

In the report of the FDA laboratory of Nagpur made in June 2013, it has been mentioned that samples of soyabean oil, tur dal, chilli powder and curry powder confirm to the respective standards of the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) regulation, 2011.

The report from the referral lab in Mysore tested the oil of the same brand a month later said that the sample was substandard, it does not confirm to the standards and quoted the same act. It also said that the iodine value was below minimum level and the oil tested positive for rancidity. Report of the chilli powder declared it as unsafe as it showed presence of salmonella bacteria in it. The curry powder was found to have more crude fibre than the maximum standard limit.

Assistant commissioner (food) of FDA NR Wakode said that the new tests under the changed laws of food safety are the reason for this. "Testing for salmonella bacteria was not recommended in the older tests that we conducted. Also, previously we were only supposed to report whether or not a food item was adulterated. Safety was not asked about earlier in the tests," he said.

Some officials also raised doubts about the samples sent to Mysore, saying they may have been tempered with or may have turned bad in the interim period. However, Sharif maintains that the samples were the same and being slow moving consumer goods, the possibility of their turning bad in a month's time is not very high.