ILLEGAL EATERIES EVERYWHERE!

Most of the road side eateries across Pimple Saudagar are illegal and operate without permission from Food and Drugs Administration (FDA). It seems that residents are not bothered about the hygiene of the food items served at such eateries.

Most of the road side eateries across Pimple Saudagar are being run without having registered with Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) owing to their lack of awareness and lethargic attitude of FDA officials to spread the word. Though FDA officials should have registered all the vendors selling food items to legalize the stalls and bring them under the purview of Food Safety and Standards Act 2006. They have not carried a single round of inspection across the area in recent past. 

Indifferent attitude of residents who are not bothered about illegality of stalls and hygiene have been helping illegal businesses to flourish. These stall owners do not maintain FDA prescribed hygiene standards. Alert citizens demand FDA officials to begin a drive to register food vendors to avoid any untoward instances of food poisoning.

Vendors not aware

More than 35 road side food outlets selling chat, juice, south Indian food, Maharashtrian food, snacks and fast food run business in the morning and evening hours. Most of the vendors are clubbed at Kunal Icon road, mainly at Shivar Chowk and near the entrance of Kunal Icon Cooperative Society. 

It is compulsory for any food outlet owner to register with FDA and get a certificate which requires Rs 100 fee per year. They also need to put a copy of FDA registration on display at their stall. But not a single food stall at Kunal Icon Road has such certification on display. While remaining stall owners are not aware of registration process.

Formation of FDA

FDA came into existence in 2011, as a separate department to issue registration or license to shops or stalls selling food items like snacks, fruits vegetables, dairy products, provision stores, restaurants and drinks. Registrations are given to those with income less than Rs 12 lakh per month while licenses are for the ones with income more than Rs 12 lakh.

Pimple Saudagar, Pimple Gurav, Pimple Nilakh, Kalewadi, and Rahatani is one zone out of eight across PCMC limits for FDA. There are only 1444 registered eateries in the area. It is compulsory for a food safety inspector to go for an inspection to all stalls and vendors in his area at least once in a year. The fact that a couple of stall owners proudly share the information that how they have been running business successfully for more than six years without disturbance from FDA prove that no single inspection has been carried till now.

“We are overburdened with work. A food safety inspector has to issue license and registrations, carry out inspections, and send food items to laboratory to check hygiene level. We have not carried inspection,” said Avinash Bhandwalkar, food safety inspector, PCMC.

Manoj Lonkar, administration officer, D Ward PCMC expresses inability to take action against vendors under anti encroachment drive on the back ground of the Street Vendors Act, 2014, that regulate street vendors in public areas and protect their rights. 

Satrughna Kate, local corporator said that the corporation was in process to finalize an area for hawker’s zone where stalls could be put up legally but he didn’t explain when it would be done. Both FDA officials and corporators agreed that there is need to get street food vendors registered and promised that it would be done soon.

Stalls operating without permission 

Shivar Chowk

Happy Singh Food Express Ice-cream

Shree Ganesh Milk and Juice

Shreyash Kathi Roll Momos

Supreme Sandwich Centre

Dakshin Davangiri Dosa

Kartik Pan Centre

Two South Indian food centre

Vadapav and Pohe Centre

Near Kunal Icon Society

Kalpana Bhel centre

Chaitanya Dosa Centre

S V Pav Bhaji

Bhairavnath Pavbhaji

Krishna Kachi Dabeli

Shri Krishna Bhel

Traffic Jam fast food centre

"FDA officials are in the process of registering all food vendors either on the spot or through official process. We will register vendors across Pimple Saudagar soon.

S P Shinde, joint commissioner, PCMC area, FDA"

" If the stalls are removed from here then we will have to travel to explore new food stalls.

Santosh Maskar, Roseland Residency."

--Varsha Torgalkar

Every eatery needs a hygiene licence from now on

Cooks will need a health card

Henceforth, cooks will have to get health cards to prove that they do not have communicable diseases. In an effort to ensure safe and standard food served to people in eateries and hotels, the state government has made it mandatory for chefs to obtain 'health cards' proving they are free from ailments. Besides, every commercial establishment and vendor associated with cooking and serving of food must obtain 'hygiene licence' from the local administration. 

These decisions are as part of state government's effort to implement the Food Safety and Standards Regulation Act 2006 passed by the Centre. It is to be implemented all across the country. 

Following a meeting with top officials of the health department and food inspectors on Friday, Minister for Health and Family Welfare U T Khader said all hotels ranging from roadside mobile canteens to star hotels must have these licences. 

"We have directed that all chefs must possess health cards issued by district medical officer valid for a year. They will be screened for all kinds of communicable diseases. If chefs do not possess valid cards when the officials raid, the employer will be penalised for the lapse," Khader explained. 

Yuvna Damani of Spoonful of Sugar said, "It is a very important move. I make sure that all my staff gets their health checked every year." 

Ramasamy Salvaraju, executive chef at Taj Vivanta says, "This is a good idea for small hotels, which may not have hygiene practices. In our hotel, all chefs undergo health check-up prior to being inducted. Every year, there is an intensive medical test that we need to go through including sugar, lipid profile and communicable diseases." 

The government has directed that all establishments with an annual turnover of up to Rs 12 lakh to pay Rs 100 and obtain hygiene licences from district food safety officer and those with a turnover of Rs 12 lakh to Rs 30 crore to pay Rs 2,000 for the licences. 

All chefs and helpers at kitchen and serving lounges must wear aprons, hand gloves and caps. Any violations under the Act would incur a fine between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 10 lakh besides a jail term ranging from six months to seven years.

Health card a must for hotel kitchen staff

This is to prevent the spread of communicable diseases

To prevent the spread of communicable diseases, the State Health Department has made it mandatory for all cooks and other kitchen staff in hotels and eateries to undergo a medical check-up and obtain a health card.

Announcing this on Friday, Health and Family Welfare Minister U.T. Khader said the department had geared up to enforce the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006. The health card system was part of the enforcement, he said.

Employers should arrange for the medical check-up of their kitchen staff and ensure that they obtain a health card, failing which they would be liable for punishment, he said. “Most customers are not aware whether the kitchen staff, who prepare food, are healthy or suffering from any disease. Compulsory medical examination for kitchen staff will help curb the spread of diseases from hotels. The cards should be renewed every year,” the Minister said.

Admitting that shortage of food safety inspectors was a major hitch in enforcing the Food Safety and Standards Act, the Minister said of the 300 sanctioned posts, the department had only 177 staff. The recruitment process of more inspectors is on, he said.

An intensive awareness campaign would be launched across the State soon to highlight the features of the Act, he said. He said as per the provisions of the Act, all those involved in the food business (manufacturing to marketing) should compulsorily register with the department and obtain a licence. “All those involved in the manufacture of food items, storage, distribution, sale and import will be covered under the Act. The licences can be obtained from the district and State-level food safety officials,” he said.

Admitting that the State government is still ill-equipped to enforce the Act, the Minister said the required machinery would be put in place by August. Of nearly three lakh establishments in the food business across the State, only 1,01,687 have licences. Replying to queries, he said there are five food-testing laboratories in the State, apart from six private authorised labs in Bangalore.

3,520 kg carbide-ripened mangoes destroyed

After carrying out several health raids this week, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) conducted a major one on Thursday to target carbide-ripened mangoes. In all, AMC destroyed 3,520 kgs of mangoes and 236 litres of mango juice.

While recent health raids were conducted specifically in Maninagar and nearby areas, the one on Thursday was carried out in the entire city. The health department’s sanitary staff visited several areas of the city in different teams, in order to check on vendors offering carbide-ripened mangoes and the quality of mango juice being sold in the market.

During the checking, the staff found many vendors placing carbide packets in mango cartons to artificially ripen the mangoes. “In all, the staff served 208 notices and charged an administrative charge of Rs68,450 from the vendors. Also, we have seized 25 kgs of carbide powder from them,” said Dr Bhavin Solanki, in-charge medical health officer of AMC.

Not only mangoes, but the department is also trying to prevent food poisoning in the city by rigorously checking the quality of food products. The health flying squad of AMC carried out a health raid on different juice selling points and collected samples to check if the product is as per the Food Safety and Standards Act requirements.

Govt Plans to Strictly Enforce Food Safety Act: Khader

To prevent food adulteration and ensure supply of quality food, the government on Friday decided to strictly enforce the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations Act 2006.

Health and Family Welfare Minister U T Khader told reporters that the government is taking all measures to enforce the Act, including appointment of food safety commissioners and inspectors across the state.

He said a large-scale awareness campaign would be launched to highlight the features of the Act.

With this decision, it would become mandatory for individuals and organisations in the food business to register with the food safety authorities, he said.

“Henceforth all those involved in the production of food items, storage, distribution, sale and import will be brought under the Act to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption,” he said.

Stating that the department is setting up an enforcement machinery, he said 300 posts of food inspectors have been sanctioned and district and state-level authorities are being set up to issue licences and monitor operations.

He admitted that the state government is still ill-equipped to enforce the legislation, but expressed confidence that all the necessary apparatus would be in place by August.

Mandatory Health Cards

Outlining the salient features of the Act, he said all those involved in the preparation of food items will have to get health cards and display it.

Employers would be held responsible if their cooks and chefs are found without health cards, he said. So far, around 1,01,687 establishments have been registered, and another two lakh would register by August. Facilities have been made for online registration, he said.

He said there are five food-testing laboratories in the state, including two in Bangalore, and one each in Gulbarga, Mysore and Mangalore. The Centre has also certified six laboratories in the private sector in the state. Referring to a petition by hotel associations expressing reservation over some provisions of the Act and seeking clarifications on the setting up of mini-test laboratories by food vendors, Commissioner for Health Services Jayaram said these issues would not come in the way of enforcing the Act.