6 lakh food business operators, but monitoring system yet to catch up

There are nearly six lakh food business operators in the State. But are they being tested regularly for possible presence of harmful chemicals in the food they produce?

The answer is a “no”, with provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, not implemented because of inadequate manpower and laboratories. As a result, traces of fertilizers, harmful chemicals or preservatives beyond permissible limits reach the consumers without any check.

While the Act mandates that food authorities (in the case of the State, food safety officers) should “lay down science-based standards for food articles and to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution and sale”, the 66 officers present in the State are far from adequate for the task. By a simple mathematical calculation, each inspector is tasked with monitoring over 9,000 establishments.

Thuppil Venkatesh, Director of the National Referral Centre for Lead Projects in India (NRCLPI), terms this a serious limitation. “Not just food inspectors, the State also lacks facilities to test food adulteration. How can a handful of laboratories take up testing of samples collected from six lakh food business operators? This apart, there are scores of unregistered food operators,” he said.

Moreover, lack of awareness about the Act among people is itself a major drawback. “Not many people know about the provisions of the Act,” he said.

However, H.S. Shivakumar, State Deputy Director, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, claimed that despite the staff crunch, the mandatory checks and inspections were being done regularly in the State. “Although we require 210 food safety officers, we have only 66. The process of recruiting more food safety officers is under way and we will complete it in a month,” he said.

Not just food inspectors, the State also lacks facilities to test food adulteration. How can a handful of laboratories take up testing of samples collected from six lakh food business operators?

Thuppil Venkatesh,Director of the National Referral Centre for Lead Projects in India