Mar 19, 2017
FDA likely to implement informers’ system
The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) is understood to have decided to bring many changes in its working and might implement informers’ system to easily get information of the adulterators or adulterated food items in the State. Recently, it is going to have Global Positioning System (GPS) attached SIMs to its food safety officers so that they can be tracked where they surveyed or from where they took samples of the adulteration suspected food items’ samples for testing.
According to sources, there is a provision of keeping informers like in police or Forest Department where the department has their paid informers they supply information about criminals and poachers or wood thieves to the concerning officers in order to control illegal activities in both the departments.
Such informers’ system provision is in Government of India’s Foods Safety Act but the State Government is to make law according to which so that there will be some budgetary provision to pay some amount to the informers giving information about the adulterated food items or adulterators.
However, the Food Safety Officers have informers but they are unpaid and so they are not officially on the job.
They are the reason these officers are able to reach to the place where adulterated food items are sold or to whom who are indulged in it.
About some months when the Food Safety Officers had raided a few traders of mava, sweets and milk dairies and the raids were conducted on the factories where the adulterated milk, mava and panner was being made. It might be possible with help of informers.
It is learnt that the senior officers of Foods and Drugs Administration (FDA) are deliberating over implementing informers’ system in state and it might be started in coming months. It will give more relief to the Food Safety Officers.
When contacted, Pramod Shukla, Joint Controller, Foods and Drugs Control, said initially the GPS attached SIM system will be in FDA officers going to field to check the adulteration in foods. There is a provision of informers’ system in Food Safety Act, we will deliberate over implementing it. We will have to keep some budget provision of it, he said.
FDA faces staff shortage again
Out of 160 posts of drug inspectors across Maharashtra, only 90 have been filled so far and of the 250 food safety officer posts, only 180 have been filled
Despite vacancies being filled to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) posts just five years back, the department continues to face a staff shortage.
Out of 160 posts of drug inspectors across Maharashtra, only 90 have been filled so far and of the 250 food safety officer posts, only 180 have been filled.
In Pune, the post of joint commissioner-drugs has been lying vacant for the last nine months. Out of 15 posts of drug inspectors, only nine have been filled so far. While there is a requirement of 34 food safety officers, Pune has 16 food safety officers and they are assisted by 10 others from the Pune Municipal Corporation. Five years ago, a total of 61 posts of food and drug inspectors were filled with 13 appointed in Pune division and four in Pune district.
While the staff crunch persists, several have to make do without official vehicles. At Pune, there is just one vehicle that is shared by both food safety officers and drug inspectors while in Sangli, there is no official vehicle for the FDA officer who is assisting the police investigations in the sex determination and abortion racket.
Highly-placed FDA officials pointed out that these were Class II officers. However, the drug inspectors and food safety officers have no assistance from clerical staff as there are very few who have been appointed. Drug inspectors may inspect medical shops, check records and carry out inspections but there is very little assistance in terms of filing data entry to registering cases, issuing show cause notices and then follow up each case in the court, FDA officials said.
Across the state, there are more than 50,000 pharmacies, 15,000 wholesalers and another 8,000 manufacturing units. FDA officials admitted that some works get delayed. For instance, online applications from persons wanting to set up a medical store and such cases have to be kept on hold as they have to visit the site and send the inspection report to the assistant commissioner.
FDA officials said officers had previously been recruited to various posts in 1997. Owing to staff shortage, the FDA could only play a limited role and partly fulfil several requirements to enforce several Acts such as nabbing offenders for smoking in public places.
The FDA had to fill up the posts as some public interest litigations were filed, sources said. When contacted Dr Harshadeep Kamble, Commissioner, FDA told The Indian Express that there was a staff shortage. “The MPSC has conducted exams and held interviews and we expect vacancies to be filled soon,” Kamble said.
Milk adulterators under the scanner
Congress member P Sudhakar Reddy demanded increase in the number of cold storage facilities for milk starting from the transportation from villages.
Hyderabad: The State government would soon bring a stringent Act to punish people who resort to adulteration of milk, Minister for Medical and Health C Laxma Reddy said on Saturday.
Replying to the question raised by TRS members P Rajeshwar Reddy and Professor Srinivas Reddy in the Council, the Minister said Indian Food Safety and Security Act, 2006, was lopsided and we have asked the Central government to bring in amendments to the existing one besides the State government’s new Act.
Laxma Reddy said so far 16 milk samples had tested positive in various parts of the State and cases were booked against those indulging in the malpractice. New technology-enabled equipment would soon come to the State to check more milk samples in a short span of time, the Minister said adding that the government, to meet the present demand, was encouraging the dairy sector through incentives to dairy farmers.
Congress member P Sudhakar Reddy demanded increase in the number of cold storage facilities for milk starting from the transportation from villages. He also urged the government to take precautionary steps to curb adulteration of all commodities in the State.
Consumers want ecommerce sites to display manufacturing and expiry dates on packaged food: Survey
Ordering packaged food from e-commerce sites has increased many folds in the recent years but the absence of manufacturing and expiry dates on such products often leads to the product not being fully utilised. A whooping 96 per cent of the participants in a recent survey agreed that ecommerce sites should mandatorily disclose manufacturing and expiry dates of such products sold on their sites.
Citizen engagement platform LocalCircles conducted a poll and asked how many of the consumers thought that ecommerce sites should mandatorily disclose manufacturing and expiry date of the packaged food products sold on their sites.
Out of the approximately 10,000 consumers who voted, 96 per cent answered in a yes, with only 2 per cent, saying it should not be done and 2 per cent choosing not to answer.
"LocalCircles will be taking up this issue shortly with Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the Department of Consumer Affairs requesting them to take immediate action on this matter so all eCommerce site and their sellers of packaged food comply with this ask by the consumers," the citizen engagement platform said in a statement.
This survey, according to LocalCircles, is a result of several complaints from users, stating that some of the packaged food that they ordered from ecommerce sites is quite close to its expiry date and has limited shelf life available.
The display of manufacturing and expiry dates as well as the MRP, LocalCircles said, will help the consumer as well as increase consumer trust in the eCommerce channel.
Vadodara Municipal Corporation officials dispose water pouches
VADODARA: Food safety officers of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) checked 10 units supplying packaged drinking water in the city on Saturday. The teams disposed 28,500 water pouches at these units.
The drive to check such units has been started in wake of the fact that packaged water is in high demand during summer. The water pouches were disposed of by the officials as they did not have expiry dates printed on them clearly. The units were also issued notices as they were not maintaining hygienic conditions. The units that were checked on Saturday were located at Gorwa, Tandalja, Makarpura GIDC and Kishanwadi. A similar drive was conducted by the officials on Thursday.
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