Hygiene training changes little for street food vendors of Delhi

Street food vendors at Barakhamba Lane in New Delhi. 

India’s apex food regulatory authority trained more than 23,000 food vendors how to handle hygienic food for over two months but nothing has changed on the ground.

Food vendors continue their old practices as they wait for the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to give them free “promotional kits” as part of the Clean Street Food – Project Delhi training project.

The kits, containing two aprons, one t-shirt, one cap, 50 disposable plastic gloves and a hand sanitiser, will be a one-time hand-out to promote hygienic practices.

The training was organised between March 13 and May 7.

“The kits will be given to introduce them to hygienic practices. The gloves will last for five to 10 days, the aprons for a few months, after which the vendors will have to start buying their own supplies,” said Sangeeta Singh, manager of street food programmes’ National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), one of the partner organisations in the project.

The four-hour training session held by the Delhi Food Safety Department was of little help, say vendors. “We were told to wash hands and cut our nails, which we do anyway. The rest of the things were just not feasible. I cannot boil and pour tea with plastic gloves,” said Surinder Shah, a tea stall owner.

Only five of the 12 street vendors visited by the reporter had gone for the training session and only two completed it. None made changes to their processes.

Over 23,000 of the estimated 30,000-35,000 vendors in the city have participated in the project, according to the Delhi Food Safety Department. The project was termed as “successful” and may soon be rolled out in 40 big cities.

Some had already adopted practices that are good for business. Jeevan Kumar, who runs a fruit salad stall in Connaught Place said, “I have been using an apron and gloves because it is a necessity. Our hands and clothes get sticky and dirty cutting fruit. The free caps may be useful, but some other suggestions, such as using closed bin, are not feasible as we have to constantly keep throwing the peels.”

Sanjay Gupta, who sells sweets in the same area, kept his wares covered with muslin cloth and foil but that is because it drives up his sales. “When people see that the sweets are kept in hygienic conditions they come to us. I am planning to get a uniform stitched for us. And, maybe we will start wearing the caps once the kit comes in,” he said.

“We were told that we would receive certificates which will allow us to continue selling food here. That is why I rushed to the Delhi food safety office and submitted my documents. They were giving some talk, but I really did not have the time to listen to it. They said that they would be sending the certificate over to the shop, so, I left,” said Ram Bharose, who sells bread and omelette near Barakhamba Metro station.

Toxic bite

Some diseases caused by contaminated food and water

Hepatitis A and E (jaundice)

Dysentery

Diarrhoea, cramps

Typhoid

Cholera

FDA yet to recover Rs. 7.50 lakh fine from guilty

Nagpur : The Food & Drugs Administration (FDA) had confiscated banned food products worth 9.30 crore worth in the last three years. Around 287 cases were decided under the food safety & standard Authority (FSAS) rules and 41 lakh fine was imposed on the guilty. However, an RTI inquiry in this case has revealed that 7.50 lakh fine has not yet been recovered from the guilty.

RTI activist Abhay Kolarkar under the RTI Act had sought information from the FDA about its confisication of goods and fine imposition in the year 2013. 

As per the details given by the FDA, it had conducted 319 seizures between April 2013 and March 2016. During which it had seized 15,924 kg of banned food products valued at` 9.46 crore. During this period 387 court cases were filed under section 68 of FSAS.

The information also revealed that 278 cases were finalised and fines were imposed in 247 cases. A fine of 41 lakh was imposed on the guilty, however, 7.50 lakh fine is still to be recovered from the guilty. Cheap onion: Due to glut of onion crop this season, traders are selling this commodity on footpaths at cheaper rate.

Govt ban on gutkha evokes no response

TRADERS OPENLY FLOUT BAN; CONSUMPTION ON THE RISE

SHILLONG: In a clear cut case of government apathy, sale of gutkha and other harmful tobacco and non tobacco products continues unabated despite a State government ban ordered in 2014 without any implementation.

There is open sale of the banned guthka and pan masala with school and college students being the most important customers. Shopkeepers in the city continue to display and sell the harmful substances openly without any fear of the authorities.

Most of the pan shops in the city continue to sell gutkhas and while some show restraint, lure of money proves to be too strong a motivation.

Speaking on the matter, East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner P.S. Dkhar asserted that he would take up the matter with officials of the Health department since this matter is dealt by them.

The manufacture, storage and sale of gutkha and pan masala containing tobacco and nicotine as ingredients are prohibited in the State under sub section (2) of Section 30 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

Soon after the order, every Government agency was quick enough to see that the order is implemented in its spirit but as time elapsed, no further action was taken to ensure that the order is enforced strictly.

According to Dkhar, the Health department needs to conduct publicity drives about the order so that people do not buy or consume the banned products. Besides, it is the Health department which needs to conduct inspection and penalize those shopkeepers who still sell these products, the deputy commissioner said.

Dkhar also stated that since these products are brought from outside the State, the first and foremost task is to locate the stockiest of these products.

Until the time the Health department wakes up to its responsibilities and the officials move out of their cabins onto the streets to gauge the situation, sale of guthka and such products would continue in the city and across the State with more and more children falling prey to the harmful substances on a daily basis.

FSSAI NEWS LETTER

Clear, crunchy and counterfeit: China's fake jellyfish

Beijing, 

A tonne of man-made "jellyfish" has been seized by China's police, adding a new ingredient to the country's long recipe of fake foods.

The marine animal is a popular appetiser in China, known for its crisp but fleshy texture, often shredded and pickled in salt, vinegar and a little sugar.

Fake "jellyfish", made from chemicals, was first found at a food market in Huzhou, in the coastal province of Zhejiang, the local government said on its website.

They had a high aluminium content, long term consumption of which can damage bones and nerves, and lead to memory loss and mental decline.

China is prone to food safety scandals as businesses, sometimes in collusion with corrupt officials, often ignore standards and regulations in pursuit of profit.

The vendors' suppliers in neighbouring Jiangsu sold more than 10 tonnes before being caught, and between them the two gangs raked in over 170,000 yuan ($26,000), the local government said.

A total of six suspects were detained in two raids and police were investigating further, it added.

In 2008, several infants died and thousands fell ill because of baby milk powder tainted by a chemical additive.

Two dairy farmers were executed over the case. But Chinese media reports said in 2014 that many of the officials who were demoted, sacked or resigned over the scandal, including the then head of the national food and drug safety watchdog Li Changjiang, had subsequently been given other government jobs or even promoted.

Concern over food safety due to dearth of officers

Whither hygiene?:Fast food pushcarts on Sambamurthy Road in Vijayawada. 

Only 3 FSOs in Krishna district, which has over 15,000 food-related businesses

Lodging a complaint with food safety officers against food adulteration or use of unsafe ingredients in food items isn’t an easy and quick solution to clamp down on unethical practices by food traders as it would take some months or even a year to prove the violation.

Dearth of food safety officers and adequate infrastructure such as laboratories has left food safety and public health at risk.

Monitoring the ever-growing food industry in the capital region has become a cause of concern for the citizens as well as authorities. Eateries are mushrooming in the city owing to public demand but there are only three Food Safety Officers to monitor thousands of licensed businesses, including food processing, transporting, storing, distributing, manufacturing and others across the district as per the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

No legal mandate

The Act guaranteed the availability of safe food for all through monitoring the quality of food items, but there was no mandate on number of food safety officers required for a particular amount of population, said advocate and consumer rights activist Pavan Reddy. Also, it is responsibility of the FSOs to keep proper vigil on eateries and make frequent visits and collect samples to analyse the quality of the food. But even acting on a complaint had become a formidable task for the officers as they get stuck with court cases, laboratory visits and special raids often.

Gazetted Food Inspector T. Sekhar Reddy said that there were only three inspectors, one junior office assistant, a typist and two attenders for Krishna district. The same was the case with other districts.

For over a decade

There was no increase in the number of posts for more than a decade even as the population grew by several times in the urban areas. Officially, there are nearly 15,000 food related businesses in the district.

“It is time the government sanctioned additional posts in view of capital establishment in the region. At least 15 food inspectors are required in the capital region besides infrastructure and laboratories,” said an official. “In urban areas a food safety officer must be allotted for a populace of 50,000,” he added.

It may be recalled that a couple of days ago the Delhi High Court ordered the government to recruit sufficient food safety officers to put an end to adulteration of various food products in Delhi which was also facing dearth of officers.