பப்ஸில் இருந்த இரண்டு இன்ச் ஆணி... கோவையில் உணவுப் பாதுகாப்புத்துறையில் பகீர் புகார்!

கோவையில் பப்ஸ்க்குள் ஆணி இருந்தது தொடர்பாக உணவு பாதுகாப்புத்துறையில் புகார் அளிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

இது தொடர்பாக நூர் முகமது, சண்முகம் மற்றும் தினகரன் ஆகியோர் கோவை உணவு பாதுகாப்புத்துறை அலுவலகத்தில் அளித்துள்ள புகாரில், ``ஆவின் பால் ஏஜென்ட் எடுப்பதற்காக, ஆர்.எஸ்.புரத்தில் உள்ள ஆவின் அலுவலகத்துக்குச் சென்றிருந்தோம். அப்போது, அருகே பப்ஸ் விற்பவரிடம் ரூ.20-க்கு 6 வெங்காய பப்ஸ் வாங்கி சாப்பிட்டோம். அதில், சண்முகம் சாப்பிட்ட பப்ஸில் 2 இன்ச் நீளமுள்ள ஆணி இருந்ததைக் கண்டு நாங்கள் அதிர்ச்சியடைந்தோம். விற்பனையாளரிடம் கேட்டதற்கு, நான் இதை வெளியில் இருந்து வாங்கி வருகிறேன் என்று கூறினார். இதுதொடர்பாக, ஆர்.எஸ்.புரம் காவல்நிலையத்தில் புகார் அளிக்கச் சென்றோம். அவர்கள் உணவுப் பாதுகாப்புத்துறை அலுவலகத்தைத் தொடர்பு கொண்டபோது, மனு அளிக்கச் சொன்னார்கள். இதனால், அவர்களிடம் புகார் மனு அளித்துள்ளோம்.

எனவே, இந்தப் புகார் மனுவை ஏற்று உரிய நடவடிக்கை எடுக்க வேண்டும். மேலும், பொது மக்கள் மற்றும் பள்ளி மாணவர்கள் பாதிக்கப்படாமல் இருக்க, இதுபோன்ற உணவுப் பண்டகங்களைத் தயாரிக்கும் இடத்தை நேரில் சென்று கண்காணிக்க வேண்டும்" என்று கூறியுள்ளனர்.

Expedite cases related to food safety, says HC

Officials of the Food Safety Wing checking private milk selling vendors for adulteration of milk, in Vellore. 

Wants adulterators to be brought to book at the earliest

The Madras High Court on Tuesday directed all civil and criminal courts in the State to ensure that cases filed against food adulterators were taken up on an urgent basis and disposed of as early as possible.

A Division Bench of Justices Vineet Kothari and Anita Sumanth issued the interim direction on a public interest litigation petition filed by advocate A.P. Suryaprakasam in 2017 seeking a CBI probe into Dairy Development Minister K.T. Rajenthra Bhalaji’s claim that milk sold by some private dairies was unhealthy.

During the last hearing of the case on December 13, the judges grilled Food Safety Commissioner P. Amudha over the action taken against those selling adulterated milk in the State. She had expressed her inability to conduct more number of raids because of limited manpower available in her department.

Rejecting such excuses, the Bench directed her to crack down on every other adulterator and submit a comprehensive report in the court. Accordingly, the Commissioner filed a report in the court on Tuesday and the judges were surprised to see the number of raids having gone up considerably without any change in the manpower.

After recording the submission of the Commissioner that as many as 790 samples of milk were lifted from various establishments and subjected to quality checks in December alone, the judges wondered why no action had been taken though 113 of those samples were found to be sub-standard.

Cases in lower courts

On a perusal of a chart produced before them, they also found that criminal cases launched against food adulterators were pending in the lower courts for long.

A direction was issued to the lower courts to dispose of the cases at the earliest and a direction was issued to the Registrar General to obtain a list of such cases pending in the courts.

Civil proceedings pending against food adulterators before the District Revenue Officers should also be concluded speedily and details thereof must be submitted in the court by February 26, the judges ordered.

The Bench also took serious note of the Food Safety and Standards Rules, framed by the government in 2001, exempting those who sell less than 500 litres of milk per day from obtaining a licence under the Act. “Does that mean a person who sells one litre of milk each to 500 families is entitled to poison them?” the senior judge in the Bench asked and said that his Bench shall examine the issue in detail during the next hearing.

Codex committee to draft standards for a variety of spices

The fourth session of the codex committee on spices and culinary herbs (CCSCH) that got underway in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday will draft standards for oregano, basil, ginger, garlic, chilli pepper and paprika, nutmeg, saffron and cloves. They are in the form of reports of electronic working groups established by the previous session held at Chennai in February 2017. In this fourth session of the codex committee, more than 100 delegates from 30 countries are participating.

Codex committee to draft standards for a variety of spices

The agenda is two new work proposals; one is to draft standards for turmeric and small cardamom, and second is to develop harmonized standards for global trade for these two high-demand spices.

Kerala governor P Sathasivam inaugurated the fourth session of the codex committee on spices and culinary herbs established under Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC). On this occasion, he said spice cultivators should be encouraged to think globally and make use of the latest farming technologies. He said Indian farmers should be provided with better infrastructure like better storage facilities so that they could stay up-to-date with their counterparts from other countries.

The governor also said, “Ensuring transparency and equality in fixing global quality standards for spices and herbs can strengthen the global food safeguard without compromising on safety.” He added, “Kerala has suffered a production loss of more than 25,000 tons of spices valued at Rs1,254 crore in recent floods. This session’s plan to deliberate draft standards for cardamom and turmeric is truly laudable since they are among the crops that dominate the spices cultivation in Kerala.”

Rita Teaotia, the chairperson, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), said in the previous three sessions, the CCSCH succeeded in getting the approval of the CAC for three standards; black, white and green pepper; cumin and thyme.

‘Bhog’ to feed gods, devotees hygienic food

FSSAI has set specific rules for maintaining food safety and hygiene in the preparation of the offering.

The initiative mandates adoption of hygienic practices by the food handlers which requires wearing of aprons, gloves and head covers.

Thiruvananthapuram: Blissful Hygienic Offering to God or Bhog aimed at maintaining food safety and hygiene in places of worship mandated by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will be implemented in the state by February 28.

On Tuesday, the Kerala Commissionerate of Food Safety held a meeting with the officials of Travancore, Cochin and Malabar Devaswom boards to enforce the project at 10 prime temples.

Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, Mannarasala, Guruvayoor, Sabarimala, Parassinikadavu, Lokanarkavu are some of the places of worship chosen by the Commissionerate for launching the pilot project.

However, apprehensions loom large over the enforcement of Bhog which makes licensing and registration mandatory for places of worship offering ‘prasadam’ to devotees. FSSAI has set specific rules for maintaining food safety and hygiene in the preparation of the offering. 

“We have initiated discussions with Devaswom officials. The Commissionerate will be giving proper training and all technical support,” said a top official.

The initiative mandates adoption of hygienic practices by the food handlers which requires wearing of aprons, gloves and head covers. Proper cleaning and waste management facilities are a must for getting the license.

“We will sensitise them about the need for food safety regulations and health hygiene. We have pressure from the Centre to implement the project and report its progress,” said the official.

As per the guidelines, the procurement of raw materials for prasadam should be from authorised traders with FSSAI licenses.

However, Devaswom officials didn’t give a specific reply on whether they will be taking licenses and registration from the Commissionerate.

“We are very positive about the initiative, and most of our temples are maintaining high-quality standards in the preparation of prasadam,” Devaswom Board president A. Padmakumar said.

However, the food safety authorities are very hopeful that regular auditing by them will improve the standards at these temples.

Eateries without licence will face legal action now

Mysuru: After finding that only around 30% of eateries in the city run without permission, the health department has taken up a massive drive to identify such establishments and bring them under the ambit of trade licence. Department officers have already started issuing notices to such eateries across the district.

In the notice, the health department stated that as per the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and Rules 2011, it is mandatory to have trade licence for establishments with an annual turnover of over Rs 12 lakh and registration for those with less than Rs 12 lakh. The act covers all the establishments including food manufacturers, hotels, bakeries, sweet stalls, wine stores and bars, restaurants, canteens, clubs, canteens, food malls, roadside vendors, dhabas, wedding halls, fruits and vegetable vendors.

A district health department officer told TOI that some owners, especially in the rural areas, fail to apply for license due to lack of knowledge about the rules. However, there are people who deliberately avoid taking licenses.

“It is like starting from zero. We have taken up the drive to make the traders apply for license. From 2011, we are intimating the traders for license and registration. Till 2014, traders were prompt in taking license, but due to lack of strict implementation of rules, traders started to show negligence. Now, we are starting the drive from the beginning,” officers said.

Authorities stated that in the MCC limits, only 10% of the establishments possess license. “This time, we are very strict and have been issuing notices. If the trader does not respond positively, we will take legal action. We will call squad from the state and levy hefty fine or close the establishments,” officers said.

The health department has initiated the drive by deputing district surveillance officer Dr Kusuma to cover the district and district vector-borne disease control officer Dr S Chidambar the MCC limits.

Chidambar told TOI that the problem is with the hotel and bakery associations who refuse to obtain license and argue with officers.

He said that the problems regarding the hotels, bakery and street vendors have been brought to the notice of higher authorities. “Despite resistance from hotels and bakeries, we have managed to increase the percentage of license holders from 15-20% to 30%. This time, legal action will be initiated for failing to possess license,” he said.