RAIPUR: The various drives undertaken by the Chhattisgarh Food department to check adulteration are turning out to be mere formalities, as they fail to prevent the sale of suspected contaminated products, thanks to the lengthy procedures involved in testing of samples.
The food department, which goes on an overdrive to collect samples during the festive season, has no on the spot detection kits to check for adulteration and they have to wait for test reports, sometimes even for months, before initiating any action against the unscrupulous traders. The time lag between the collection of the samples and the receipt of its reports allows the traders to sell off their adulterated products to unsuspecting consumers, putting them at risk.
According to sources in the food department, the lengthy procedures involved in testing of samples are defeating the very purpose of stopping the sale of adulterated products. "Though the prescribed time limit for the preparation of the reports is 14 days, other formalities, like dispatch and receipt, and holidays that come in between eat up more time and reports are effectively not delivered before a month", said an official on condition of anonymity.
Incidentally, the rate of adulteration appears to be quite high in Chhattisgarh as over 50% of the 70 samples collected across the state last year during Diwali tested positive for contamination. Though the department has launched proceedings against the traders whose samples failed tests, the sale of the adulterated products could not be prevented.
The department has collected 50 samples since October 15 this year but no reports have been received from the lab till date. With just a day left for Diwali, the adulterated products, if any, would have been already sold to consumers.
Incidentally, on the spot adulteration kits are available in the market and are being used by administration of several states, including Maharashtra and Gujarat. According to reports, these kits prove very effective as goods tested positive for adulteration are immediately seized and destroyed.
These instant detection kits are in fact very handy to check adulteration in any form in khoya and sweets. These kits save a lot of time and ensure stricter compliance.
The food department, which goes on an overdrive to collect samples during the festive season, has no on the spot detection kits to check for adulteration and they have to wait for test reports, sometimes even for months, before initiating any action against the unscrupulous traders. The time lag between the collection of the samples and the receipt of its reports allows the traders to sell off their adulterated products to unsuspecting consumers, putting them at risk.
According to sources in the food department, the lengthy procedures involved in testing of samples are defeating the very purpose of stopping the sale of adulterated products. "Though the prescribed time limit for the preparation of the reports is 14 days, other formalities, like dispatch and receipt, and holidays that come in between eat up more time and reports are effectively not delivered before a month", said an official on condition of anonymity.
Incidentally, the rate of adulteration appears to be quite high in Chhattisgarh as over 50% of the 70 samples collected across the state last year during Diwali tested positive for contamination. Though the department has launched proceedings against the traders whose samples failed tests, the sale of the adulterated products could not be prevented.
The department has collected 50 samples since October 15 this year but no reports have been received from the lab till date. With just a day left for Diwali, the adulterated products, if any, would have been already sold to consumers.
Incidentally, on the spot adulteration kits are available in the market and are being used by administration of several states, including Maharashtra and Gujarat. According to reports, these kits prove very effective as goods tested positive for adulteration are immediately seized and destroyed.
These instant detection kits are in fact very handy to check adulteration in any form in khoya and sweets. These kits save a lot of time and ensure stricter compliance.
When contacted State Controller Food and Drug, Ravi Prakash Gupta, admitted that absence of these instant kids was indeed an impediment in stricter compliance of food safety norms. He however, assured that by next year the department would equip itself with these kits.
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