Thiruvananthapuram:
Traders Demand Facilities For Stringent Inspection At Checkposts
Left with no other option, the food safety department has decided to take action against vehicles transporting vegetables treated with pesticides into the state. Food safety licences will be made mandatory for these vehicles besides forcing the vendors to inform the source and the market.
The decision was taken as the Food Safety and Standard Act (FSSA) does not clearly mention about action against farmers. A meeting convened by food safety commissioner T V Anupama to inform the vegetable vendors about the decision on Tuesday witnessed heated debates between food safety officials and vegetable vendors.
The food safety officials maintained that they could not take action against farmers while the vendors demanded that the department should find other ways like beefing up the inspection at checkposts. Anupama said the department d urged the Union government to had urged the Union government to amend the FSSA so as to include action against farmers for using banned pesticides. “We have limitations. It would take a minimum of seven days to get the results. We cannot hold the vegetables for long as they are perishable goods. The only thing we could do is to find the source and ban transportation of goods for there,“ she told vendors.
Health minister V S Sivakumar said the commercial taxes department had been asked to collect details such as the source of the product, the market to which it is going, the name of the product, quantity and the like at the checkpost.
All vegetable vendors had been asked to obtain food safety licences (for those with annual turnover above Rs 12 lakh) and food safety registrations (for those with turnover below Rs 12 lakh) before June 15.However, the laboratories in the state are still ill-equipped to check the presence of pesticides. Currently, the samples are tested at the labs of the agriculture university . “We are in the process of installing the latest equipment at government analytical labs in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode,“ Sivakumar said.
The public service commission has begun proceedings to recruit 80 food safety officers to resolve the manpower shortage in the department, which has been crippling it.Around 16,000 candidates have applied for the posts.
Chief minister Oommen Chandy has convened a meeting on Wednesday on the matter.
Energy drinks come under food safety dept scanner
Thiruvananthapuram:
The food safety department on Tuesday took samples of beverages sold as `energy drinks'.The drive followed a decision taken at the meeting of state food safety commissioners in Delhi.
“The samples have been taken for analysis. The energy drinks were brought under the scanner as the Food Safety and Standards Act does not clearly mention about such products,“ food safety commissioner T V Anupama said.
The analytical labs have been asked to check various parameters such as artificial sweetener, stimulants, colours and the like in these drinks. The week-long raid will conclude next Tuesday.
Anupama said the energy drinks were popular among youths in Kozhikode and Ernakulam. The department has already collected samples of drinks such as Redbull and Monster. These drinks are sold at exorbitant prices and are popular among fitness freaks.
Sources said the samples of energy drinks would be collected from at least three districts.The department expects to get the results within a week. As there is stiff competition in the sector, there are high chances of manufacturers breaching protocols to value add their products. Recently, Red Bull had challenged an Indian variant in the Delhi high court for allegedly copying their colour scheme and logo.
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