The district administration has directed the Food Safety Wing to ensure that restaurants and eateries have closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras before issuing licences.
District Collector Archana Patnaik gave the direction in response to a demand made by the Commissioners of Valparai, Mettupalayam and Pollachi Municipalities during the first Steering Committee meeting of Food Safety held here recently.
Designated Officer of Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department (Food Safety Wing), R. Kathiravan, is the convenor of the Committee, which has been formed to implement the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
Trade bodies had requested the district administration to train entrepreneurs on norms and guidelines of the Food Safety Act. The Food Safety Officials also requested the Project Officer of ICDS to properly store samples of the food being prepared at their centres for each meal.
According to officials who took part in the meeting, Ms. Archana Patnaik directed the Food Safety Officers to conduct as much raids in super markets and big outlets as in small shops. Responding to a request from consumer organisations, she also directed them to check the quality of foods given as ‘annadhanam’ in temples.
In the 24 temples where the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department offered annadhanam (free food distribution) in Coimbatore, the kitchens had the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India licence, said sources in the department.
The administration in Coimbatore had applied for the licence a couple of years ago and as of 2014, the Department had renewed the licence as well. To cook food, the Department procured groceries on a monthly basis and vegetables on a daily basis so as to ensure that only fresh vegetables were used.
The Department no longer used firewoods in the kitchens. It used LPG cylinders. The Department managed 254 listed (big) temples and 1,290 non-listed (small) temples in the district.
Food Safety Officials requested Project Officer of ICDS to properly store samples of food prepared at the centres for each meal
No comments:
Post a Comment