BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has asked health officials to go for sample testing of soft drinks available in the market following allegations that heavy metals are found in the beverages in many parts of the country.
The order came two days after Union Health Minister Faggan Singh Kulaste informed Rajya Sabha that lead and other heavy metals like Cadmium and Chromium have been found in the samples of five different soft drinks manufactured by two major multinational companies in India.
In a written reply, he said heavy metals were found in samples of Sprite, Mountain Dew, 7up, Pepsi and Coca Cola which were selected by the stratified sampling method and submitted to National Test House at Kolkata for testing.
Meanwhile, the State Food Safety Commissioner has asked the district health officials to collect samples for tests and analysis. ‘’The additional district medical officers will ensure collection of samples for test and submit a report immediately,’’ he stated in a letter.
Besides, the health officers of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur and Rourkela Municipal Corporations as well as Puri Municipality have also been directed to go for stricter enforcement of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and labelling) Regulations, 2011.
Sources said the health officials have already collected three samples from Bhubaneswar and sent those to the State public health laboratory for test. The report is awaited.
No comments:
Post a Comment