Sans food officers, little check on spurious sweets

Solan, October 28

With no Food Safety Official (FSO) in the twin districts of Solan and Sirmaur, there is little check on the quality of sweets being sold in the market during this festive season.

The post of FSO has been lying vacant for several years after the official had retired.

Earlier, Solan and Sirmaur districts had one FSO each, but later, one officer was assigned two to three districts due to the promotion of field officials.

Figures secured from the Directorate Health Safety and Regulation revealed that out of the 22 sanctioned posts, only two FSOs were available in the state.

As a stop-gap arrangement, the state government had designated district veterinary officials as FSOs to draw food samples, but the move had failed to yield any result, as these officers had refused to handle this additional duty.

The FSOs usually begin drawing samples of sweets at least a week before the major festivals to monitor the adulterated sweets, which usually flood the markets.

Being a district bordering other states, the incidence of adulterated sweets being sold here is high and this requires added caution on part of the FSOs.

Though the recruitment process of 19 FSOs is underway, it will take time for the new staff to be trained and sent to the field.

Naresh Lath, Director (Health Safety), said the designated officers of all 12 districts had been given powers to challan erring shopkeepers keeping in view the lack of FSOs.