Many districts yet to comply with food safety rules

Madurai: In an age when most people are utmost vigilant about the food they eat, its safety has assumed paramount importance. However, an RTI filed by a law student has picked several holes in the imposition of food safety act including low fines due to lack of sensitisation among the officials. The RTI also revealed that many districts in the state were yet to constitute district-level steering committees which are mandatory under the act on food safety.

R S Aafreen, a second year student of law, said that district revenue officers were designated as adjudicating officer under the FSSA with powers of a civil court for imposing penalties other than jail. Due to lack of sensitisation, the fine that has been imposed in many cases ranged from Rs 500 to Rs 5,000 though the act stipulates imposing fines ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh and imprisonment of up to six months

Aafreen had filed the RTI seeking the status of district-level steering committees in the 32 districts. The Tamil Nadu government order G.O (D) No 923 dated September 12, 2014 had directed officials to constitute food steering committees at the state as well as the district level under the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006. District level food safety steering committees have to be constituted with the district collector as chairperson to monitor the food industry.

The RTI which was addressed to the state commissionerate got the district level officers to answer it but only 15 of the 32 officers have answered the query indicating the absence of the committees. As per the reply to the RTI, Dindigul, Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Salem and Virudhunagar districts did not furnish any reply to the formation of the steering committees.

The state had integrated the food safety wing of the directorate of public health and the department of drugs control administration and formed the Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration under FSSA and Food Safety and Standards Rules, 2011. The food safety commissionerate of Tamil Nadu is one of the biggest departments in the country with 32 district designated officers, 580 food safety officers and supportive staff. However, the commissioner of food safety continues to hold multiple responsibilities.

It is specified that the district designated officer should have a medical degree and that the food safety officer (FSO) a degree in chemistry and allied subjects. Persons who are appointed as FSOs cannot be promoted to the next level of district designated officer as it needs a medical degree. This leads to a lack of motivation among them.

The annual report of 2013-2014 of the department says that the 580 FSOs had collected only 658 legal samples and that cases were filed against only 61 traders and the total penalty imposed during the entire year was only Rs 5.7 lakhs while the food commissionerate gets over Rs 50 crore annually for its functioning. The annual report says that Rs 35 lakh was collected as penalty in 203 cases in the year 2014-2015.