Who is responsible for ‘food safety’ – SMC or D&FCO?

Wake up, food adulteration is going on unchecked

Srinagar, May 14: Who is responsible for checking the adulteration of food stuffs and initiating punitive action against the adulterers?

While the Srinagar Municipal Corporation and Drug and Food Control Organization are slugging out this issue against each-other, adulteration of food stuffs is going on unchecked in the Valley and the unscrupulous trades-people selling foods are having a field days as the sun of unaccountability shines bright and hot!

After the ‘Food Safety Wing’ of the SMC was handed over to the D&FCO here, adulteration of foodstuffs has become the order of the day, with nobody seemingly bothered about the health of the consumers.

Sources in the SMC said that all this started when an order (24-FSC of 2014, dated 25/10/2014) was issued by then Commissioner of Food Safety, J&K, de-notifying the then Health Officer, Srinagar of powers and appointing I/C Assistant Commissioner Food as ‘Designated Officer’ in the Srinagar Municipal limits.

“One of the ministers in former NC-Congress government pressured former Health Minister to hand over the wing to D&FCO here so that some “blue-eyed boys” could be accommodated,” sources in SMC said.

Interestingly, when the order to this effect was issued by the Health department, Housing and Urban Development department was not taken on board -- the SMC presumably comes under both of them, though it is more of H&UD department.

“By issuing this order, the previous government has made Health wing of the SMC completely defunct,” sources in SMC say.

Now, owing to the internal tussle between the two agencies over the issue, the food quality here has gone to dogs and food laboratory here is in absolute shambles.

Now this can be ascertained by the fact that this lab showed normal results for some food samples (of some known but controversial brands tested here) while the same samples were declared unsafe by a better and more sophisticated Food and Drug Laboratory, Kolkata, sources said.

Most of our foods are poisoned. Slowly but surely, we're poisoning ourselves, every day. Should we allow this to continue? Stand up and SPEAK OUT to save your foods, to save yourself, your children, and our future.

Earlier Food Safety Wing of the SMC would take at least seven samples a day from different establishments within the municipal limits, but now not a single is being lifted by the D&FCO.

“Go and ask D&FCO how many food samples have they lifted for testing from the city during past few months,” asked a senior functionary of SMC. “Not a single sample has been lifted after October last year,” he answered himself.

“Municipal Magistrate who would previously hear cases related to food adulteration on every Tuesday and Saturday, too is no doing it any longer now as there are no court hearings and cases are pending since October 2014,” sources within the SMC informed.

Food adulteration is not a new phenomenon in the Valley. In fact doctors say the occurrence has recently seen a phenomenal rise, which has led to a rise in the incidence of gastro-intestinal problems in Kashmir. “But the government has time and again failed to check the standards of food products in the Valley,” regretted a gastroenterologist who didn’t want to be identified.

“Reportedly there is massive adulteration in mass consumption food items which kills people, slowly. We have seen an increasing number of patients complaining of food poisoning, gastric troubles and other problems. Any delay in detection of the cancer can prove fatal,” says the gastroenterologist.

“Lung, stomach, liver, colon and breast cancer cause most cancer deaths every year in the world. The situation in Kashmir is no different,” he said while adding that adulteration of food stuffs has a direct bearing on the incidence of certain cancers, besides of course on other health issues.

When contacted, Commissioner SMC, Tufail Mattoo told ‘Kashmir Images’ that “yes it is true; food adulteration is in full swing in the markets within the Srinagar Municipal limits.”

He also confirmed that the powers of Health Officers of the Corporation have been reduced after an order was passed by Commissioner Food Safety , J&K, in October last year.

All they can do now is to conduct inspections of school and college canteens…! And they cannot initiate any action against the big sharks – the powerful commercial establishments selling food stuffs. No, SMC Commissioner didn’t say this, and certainly not in these words, but this is what this reporter could gauge as being the underlying meaning after talking with him and scores of other people.

“Since this order came, no market checks have been conducted by SMC, with the result that shopkeepers are having a field day by selling substandard products to customers,” reveals SMC Commissioner.

“Due to this decision SMC is also suffering huge revenue loss which would earlier come in a form of license fees, fines, etc.”

He also informed that the Corporation has already taken up the matter with the government. “The powers of SMC’s Health Officers should be restored so that Food Safety Wing (SMC) which is lying defunct could be made functional again,” Mattoo said.

“So far there has been no response from the government about the issue.”

It is pertinent to mention that despite direction from the Central government and state’s High Court, the state government has yet not appointed full-fledged Food Safety Commissioner.