Just 11,000 food operators enroll as deadline ends

Chennai:

The ban on Maggi has created renewed awareness on food quality among customers but seems to have done little to put the fear in the minds of food operators.The deadline for enrolling with the food safety department expired on Tuesday but very few food operators in the city have enrolled.

The food safety department does not have a count of the exact number of food operators but officials say they have identified 22,424 and that less than 11,000 have enrolled so far.

“Nearly 6,500 food operators in the city got licences and close to 4,000 have registered so far. The deadline for enrollment has been extended five times but many operators are not taking the act seriously . We have not been able to take action against eateries selling unhygienic ood because of the extensions,“ said an official. The department has just 25 food safety inspectors to monitor thousands of businesses.

The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 set new icensing and registration norms for food businesses -hotels, restaurants, canteens, hostels, roadside eateries, dairy shops, tea shops, meat shops, juice shops and vegetable and fruits vendors. The Act was implemented in August 2011. The Centre extended the dead ine multiple times because operators resisted the rules or mandatory registration and licensing. Tamil Nadu Hotels' Association secreta ry R Srinivasan said the Act is too stringent. “Studies show there is severe pesti cide content in vegetables but the Act mandates penal ties to those selling food. We hope the Centre will extend the deadline and amend the Act after consulting with food operators,“ he said.

Many roadside vendors said they were unaware of the Act. “I have not heard anything about registering with the food safety depart ment. Ideally , they should conduct camps for this,“ said a vendor in Saidapet.

Activists said lack of awareness could be a reason for poor compliance. “The government will not have any control over food operators if there is no licensing system. The government should implement the Act immediately to safeguard customers,“ an activist said.