Food poisoning in GV Raja School

Thiruvananthapuram: As many as 58 students of GV Raja Sports School, Mylam, took treatment from district hospital Peroorkkada, following food poisoning.

As many as 29 inmates of the boys’ hostel and the same number of students from the girls’ hostel were taken to hospital on Monday night after they complained of stomach pain, diarrhea and vomiting. Except for two girls, who are under observation, all others were discharged on Tuesday.

Sources in food safety department said that they received information about food poisoning only on tuesday morning. So, the officials could not collect samples of the food given to the students. Sources said that students had chapatti and chicken curry for dinner and they complained of uneasiness by night. The students were taken to hospital by around 10.30 pm.

Food safety officials took samples of leftover food such as rice, rasam and also flour, chilli powder, rice, packaged fruit juice etc for a lab test. Sources in the department said kitchen of the hostel will be temporarily closed.

Food poisoning cases were reported in the school in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Food safety officials point to lack of hygiene as the major reason for food safety issues .

Authorities of GV Raja Sports School could not be reached despite repeated attempts.

Officials seize expired soft drinks bottles from godowns

Coimbatore: Food Safety Department officials raided three godowns in the city and seized expired soft drinks bottles and packets kept among saleable stocks on Tuesday. Besides, it cracked down on shops selling products without proper labels.

In the three godowns — two in Thaneerpandhal and one in Vadavalli, officials found 240 expired Miranda bottles and 400 expired Minute Maid tetra packs. “The distributor in Vadavalli stored the Miranda bottles that were expired about month ago. Not many people know that soft drinks have an expiry date,” said designated food safety officer Dr Vijayalalithambigai.

“The distributor claimed that the bottles were to be returned to the manufacturer to get a refund, but they were stored among saleable products,” he added.

Similarly, another distributor at Peelamedu kept 400 Minute Maid tetra packs which were two weeks beyond their expiry date. “He too claimed they were to be returned to the manufacturer, but he did not keep them in a separate section,” said Vijayalalithambigai.

Meanwhile, food safety officers raided 32 shops across Gandhipuram and Pollachi and found six kilograms of snacks packets without labels that were meant for sale. “They did not have labels stating details about ingredients, manufacturing and expiry dates,” said the designated food safety officer.

Earlier on Monday, FSOs raided 52 shops, including bakeries and street vendors, and issued notices to 11 shops for not registering under the FSSAI Act. “We also cracked down on shops using newspapers to serve their products, plastic to cover fruits and for using colouring agents in their food,” said the DFO.

Court fines two for supplying milk without licence

CHANDIGARH: The Chandigarh district court on Monday made two persons stand till the rising of court and also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 each on them for supplying milk without a valid licence.

The court of chief judicial magistrate convicted dairy owner Avtar Singh and his employee Karam Raj, who were challaned by a food inspector during a drive.

The matter dates back to November 15, 2016, when a food safety officer did a surprise checking of Milk Colony and found Karam Raj supplying milk in a maxi truck .When the food safety officer asked for the licence to supply milk, Karam Raj expressed his inability to do the same. The accused further informed the officer that he worked at Chawla Dairy and was supplyong milk from there. Later, the food an safety officer prepared a spot memo and challaned both accused for selling the aforesaid food articles for human consumption without having a valid license under the Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006.

It was argued by the accused that that they had been falsely implicated and no sample was taken during the time of inspection. However, the prosecution stated that the accused were challaned for sale of food articles without having food license and there was no requirement for taking sample of the food article as sought to be contended by defence counsel. After hearing arguments from both sides, the court convicted the two accused and made him stand till the rising of court.

Ramnad folk told to use portal to test water quality

Madurai: The Ramanathapuram district administration has said that the public can ensure the quality of packaged water that they purchase by utilizing the website https:/safewaterfssai.gov.in//cleanwater/home.

District Collector S Natarajan said that the food safety department had launched the website to enable the public to check the quality of the packaged water that they purchased in their homes. Public could log on to the website, and if they entered the I.S.I number or the FSSAI number displayed on the water can or packet in the given slot, the details of the packaging firm would appear on the screen. Important details including water quality testing report of the concerned firm for six months to one year, the validity of the I.S.I and FSSAI number would be revealed.

Any grievance about packaged drinking water could also be informed using the WhatsApp number 94440 42322. The manufacture and expiry date of the packaged drinking water must be displayed clearly on the plastic sleeve of the bottle or packet in which the water is kept. The date of manufacture has to be laser-printed on the plastic sleeve of the bottle and protected with a plastic seal.

Designated officer for food safety, Dr M Jagadish Chandrabose, said that it was very important that people were aware of the quality of water they were consuming.

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