Maggi Row: In state that exposed MSG in Maggi, no food inspector appointed since 1998

As per the officials in the department, 233 Food Safety Officers (FSOs) and 78 Chief FSOs were appointed in November 1998.

The food regulator, FSSAI, was created in 2011 to implement the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.The Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration (FDA) Department that opened the proverbial can of worms by “exposing” the presence of monosodium glutamate (MSG) in Maggi noodles, inviting a ban on the instant snack in many states, is running woefully short of food inspectors, with state government last making any appointments in the year 1998.

As per the officials in the department, 233 Food Safety Officers (FSOs) and 78 Chief FSOs were appointed in November 1998.

Hemant Rao, principal secretary to the FDA department, said the appointments were held up in the last decade as the Food Safety Act, and then the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), were in the works. “There was an issue of new qualification and service rules being brought into place, hence no appointments were made in the interim,” Rao said.

However, even after the FSSAI was created, the appointments to the post of FSO in UP remained held up due to a court case. On Monday, about 150 persons, who have been selected for the post but are awaiting appointment for past four months, sat on a protest in Lucknow and submitted a memorandum with Food Safety commissioner, P K Singh, at his office.The food regulator, FSSAI, was created in 2011 to implement the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. The FSSAI action on Maggi has forced its manufacture Nestle to pull the product out of India.

“A list of 430 persons selected as FSOs —- after a written examination and an interview —- was issued on January 29 but we are yet to get appointment letters,” said Vivek Kumar Tiwari, 27, a Mainpuri resident and one of the protesters. “The government had issued an advertisement in 2010 for food inspectors but 10 days before the examinations in July 2011, it was withdrawn in light of the new guidelines,” he added.

“The government kept sitting on the new guidelines and woke up only after a PIL by one Virendra Kumar Yadav, wherein the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court directed that the appointments be made by March 2015,” added Mayank Dubey, 30, of Bhadohi.

On July 14, 2014, an advertisement was issued for 430 vacancies as FSOs and after the examinations, the results were declared on January 29. “After the written test, some candidates approached the High Court when they were not called for the interview as their degrees did not meet the guidelines,” Rao said. With the matter being sub-judice, it is still unclear as to when the 430 FSOs will finally be appointed.