Feb 22, 2018
Ahead of pongala festival food safety wing launches inspection
Attukal Devi temple in Thiruvananthapuram all decked up on the eve of the start of annual pongala festival on Thursday
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the annual pongala festival at the Attukal Bhagavathy temple beginning on Thursday, the Food Safety Commissionerate has launched a campaign for preventing the sale of adulterated and unhygienic food to pilgrims.
Two restaurants were closed during inspections taken out at 49 restaurants in the Corporation wards situated near the temple. Four hotels, 16 provisional stores and four bakeries have been slapped with notices, Food Safety Commissioner Veena N Madhavan said.
Hotel Aswathi situated near the temple and Hotel Krishnadeepam at Kalady were shut down by the Food Safety officers. The commissionerate has made extensive arrangements for ensuring supply of water and food for the pilgrims arriving for the festival. Six special food safety squads have been deployed in the festival zone. They will function round-the-clock.
Liquor Ban
The district collector has ordered liquor ban in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation area and Vellar ward of Venganoor grama panchayat on March 1 and 2 in connection with the Attukal pongala. The ban will be in effect from 6 pm on March 1 to 6 pm on March 2.
Health Department opens 24-hr control room
Preparations of the Health Department for the Attukal pongala festival have been completed, the District Medical Officer (DMO), said. The health department has opened a 24-hour control room at the district medical office which can be contacted on 0471-2466828. The department’s control room at Attukal will be functioning on Thursday. A special medical team will be deployed in connection with the Kuthiyottam ritual. Health sqauds consisting of medical team, ambulance, health inspectors and junior health inspectors will be deployed at the venue. Inspections under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) have been launched in areas falling in the festival zone, the DMO said.
Food safety control room
From Thursday, a food safety control room will begin functioning at Attukal. Pilgrims can register their names for the ‘Annadanam’ at the control room. Complaints and grievances, if any, can also be filed at the temporary facility.
Complaints regarding food safety can be lodged with the Food Safety Commissionerate on the following numbers:
8943346198, 8943346526, 8943346582, 7593873324, 7593862806, 8943346181, 8943346195, 8592999666, 7593873351
Toll-free no: 1800 425 1125
Civic body conducts raids against unlicensed vendors
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is conducting raids against unlicensed vendors who are selling packaged water without the food safety stamp of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
The move comes after the civic body traced contamination inside packaged water sold in diarrhoea affected areas which allegedly has led to the diarrhoea outbreak.
The KMC has recently begun food safety drives to stop the sale of packaged water by unlicensed vendors after around 3000 citizens fell ill with diarrhoea. Mayor Sovan Chatterjee claimed around 200 samples of water were collected from different areas in the city and the packaged water showed signs of contamination.
The mayor said, “The diarrhoea outbreak was clearly a result of a water-borne disease. We are carrying out raids with the help of the enforcement department.
Our aim is to seize water packages that are being sold by the unlicensed vendors. Most of these water packages are manufactured in various areas in North and South 24 Parganas.
Strict legal action will be taken against the offenders.” The member mayor-in-council (MMIC), Health, Atin Ghosh said, “The food safety raids are part of our routine work.
“Packaged water samples collected from places like Ranikuthi, Baghajatin Station Road, and few of the affected wards revealed the presence of Coliform bacteria in high amounts. We are cracking down on the unlicensed water vendors who are selling such spurious water without FSSAI.
The contamination is mostly found in 20litres jars.” “The names of some of the unlicensed suppliers and vendors who are distributing these samples have been collected and will be sent to the state food safety commission.
Legal action will be taken against the offenders . We have also requested the enforcement department to monitor such illegal activities in the districts” said Mr Ghosh.
Soon, eateries will have to appoint food safety supervisors to acquire licences
New Delhi:
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has drafted new regulations for culinary businesses, making it mandatory for such establishments to employ at least one food safety inspector as a pre-requisite for obtaining licences.
E-commerce operators are also required to fulfil the regulations formulated by the country’s food regulator to ensure hygiene standards. Such entities have to apply for licences under a separate ‘e-commerce’ category under the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Business) Amendment Regulations-2018.
“These draft regulations are in the process of being notified… meanwhile, keeping in mind the public health interest and to ensure the food safety of food business operations, it has been decided to operationalise these regulations with immediate effect,” the FSSAI order read.
The Hindustan Times had first reported on the regulator’s plans to make it mandatory for all food businesses with 25 or more people (such as caterers, manufacturers, companies transporting food items and retail outlets) to have at least one FSSAI-trained safety supervisor.
“We have introduced a slew of changes, and are in the process of introducing further changes to ensure that those associated with food businesses meet all regulatory requirements. Our consumers need safe and hygienic food items,” said FSSAI CEO Pawan Agarwal.
“These regulations will be enforced once they are notified in the Gazette of India,” he added.
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