Mar 19, 2019
Food at some Bengaluru's Indira Canteens unfit: Labs
The confirmation comes nearly three weeks after TOI published a report — ‘Substandard food, poor hygiene take sheen off Indira Canteens’ — on February 27.
The tests, conducted by the government-run Public Health Institute (PHI) and Ramaiah Advanced Testing Laboratory, were commissioned by BJP corporator Umesh Shetty, and found the presence of bacteria and fungus in the samples.
BBMP sources said there isn’t a single complaint of people falling ill after consuming Indira Canteen food and the timing of the allegation appears suspect. Shetty, who represents Govindrajnagar ward, said the idea behind collecting samples originated when he noticed pourakarmikas were not present in full strength during daily mustering. “I was told many absent pourakarmikas were suffering from stomachache, diarrhoea and other stomachrelated ailments. I suspected problems with the Indira Canteen food they were consuming. This forced me to get food samples tested,” he said.
The corporator collected samples from JP Nagar ward (near chief minister HD Kumaraswamy’s residence), mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun’s area (Jayanagar), deputy mayor Bhadre Gowda’s Nagapura ward and Byatarayanapura, Aramane Nagar, Govindrajnagar and Mudalpalya wards between February 28 and March 15.
Testing of the sambar samples from the Indira Canteen in JP Nagar, Jayanagar and Nagapura wards showed quality was far from satisfactory on many counts.
INFLATED? BBMP says 21 lakh people, including 16,000 pourakarmikas, eat Indira Canteen food. A corporator saw a scam in numbers quoted
CCTV cameras in canteens not functioning: Corporator
The microbiological quality of the sambar wasn’t within satisfactory limits,” said the PHI deputy director.
Samples of bisibele bath from Byatarayanapura and Mudalapalya wards were also of inferior quality. Escherichia coli (E coli) bacteria found in boiled rice could cause abdominal cramps and vomiting, said Dr Kishore Shenoy of Ramaiah Advanced Testing Laboratory.
Shetty said 16,000 pourakarmikas are provided food from Indira Canteens. He said he would file a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Bureau. He said: “Every day, huge bills are claimed. Why are officials compromising on food quality and safety of people?”
He said the BBMP claims 21 lakh people eat at Indira Canteens, but the reality is different as the numbers are inflated to claim bills. Shetty alleged CCTV cameras in the canteens aren’t functioning.
Deputy CM orders tests
Deputy chief minister G Parameshwara has directed BBMP commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad to test food samples and take action against erring contractors. Saying media reports (on quality of food) could create panic among the public, Prasad said samples of Indira Canteen ingredients and cooked food will be tested in 12 labs accredited to the National Accreditation Board and approved by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.
TIMES VIEW
Offering food at subsidised rates is a time-tested model that several governments have tried to keep their votebanks intact. That apart, Indira Canteens turned to be a blessing for the urban poor though the previous government failed to gain much politically. Now nobody's baby, there seems to be no system in place to monitor their functioning. They now face allegations of serving substandard food in unhygienic conditions. The report that food at some outlets is unfit for consumption is shocking. Instead of indulging in political mudslinging, the authorities must act quickly and fix the mess.
Street food in Mumbai, Ahmedabad 'safe to eat'
The respective state Food and Drug Administration confers ‘Clean Street Food Hub' tag on Mumbai’s Chowpatty and Ahmedabad’s Kankaria Zone
Now, having a plate of bhel puri or the lip-smacking pani puri at Mumbai’s legendary Chowpatty is apparently as safe as it can be. The Chowpatty at Girgaum and Juhu procured India’s ‘Clean Street Food Hub’ certification on March 5, 2019.
This happened within a month after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Maharashtra cracked down on 27 restaurants across Mumbai, suspending their licences and issuing showcause notices for violating basic food and safety guidelines.
In all, 80 stalls at Juhu Chowpatty and 30 stalls at Girgaum Chowpatty were monitored closely by FDA officials over the last six months. Following that, they were conferred with the tag that “is a seal of assurance that the food has been cooked in clean conditions following hygiene standards, and is absolutely safe to eat,” said Maharashtra FDA Commissioner Pallavi Darade.
Now, all the staff use clean water, gloves, uniforms, caps and have waste-bins lined up at regular intervals. Staying safe is serious business for the stall owners. After all, they get audited by FDA every three months.
The FDA clean tag that Mumbai’s chowpatty earned were on the lines of Ahmedabad’s Kankaria Zone — the country’s first ‘Clean Street Food Hub’ certification earned in September 2018 after the zone’s personnel received intensive training in cooking and hygiene standards laid down and ascertained by officials of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Gujarat Food and Drug Control Administration.
Kankaria houses around 66 street food vendors who cater to nearly 12 million people every year. The zone successfully met FSSAI-framed guidelines to upgrade the infrastructure for existing street food clusters, to make it more safe and hygienic.
The guidelines include garbage disposal practices; maintenance of personal hygiene; demarcating of cooking and non-cooking areas; working street lights; pest control and overall cleanliness.
“We conduct regular raids on restaurants across Mumbai and issue showcause notices to them if they are found violating food and safety guidelines. The idea isn’t to force them to shut shop but to comply with safety norms to ensure that they do not put public health at risk,” said Maharashtra FDA Joint Commissioner (Food) Shailesh Adhao.
In an earlier crackdown, the Maharashtra FDA had found hygiene and food safety violations in 74 per cent of over 500 popular restaurants. A large number of restaurants across Mumbai had ignored mandatory health checks for staff.
“Owing to acute staff shortage that plagues this industry, most of us cannot retain staff for too long. Maintaining records and ensuring they meet hygiene standards is a tough task,” says tea-stall owner Mahesh Trivedi.
The Maharashtra FDA in itself is plagued by staff shortage, with less than 300 food inspectors who have to monitor lakhs of restaurants. However, the recent training drive has received much appreciation from the service sector.
“Now, everything is so professional, unlike in the past. The change is there for everyone to see. FDA has done some brilliant work by training our staff in conjunction with the civic officials,” says Chetan Sharma owner of Sharma’s Milky at Chowpatty.
He added that the ‘Clean Street Food Hub’ tag has helped boost business as well.
“I swear by the quality of the food here,” says 26-year-old copywriter Anshu Goel who has been “binging on Pav Bhaji at a fave stall regularly for over two years now,” and “hasn’t fallen sick even once.” And now, Anshu says, “her mother will stop nagging her about the risks of eating out.”
Adulterated mawa seized ahead of festival
Jaipur: Ahead of Holi, health department’s food safety wing on Monday took action against mawa and milk cake producers for allegedly using dried milk powder and refined oil. Food safety officers seized 25 kg of milk powder and bottles of refined oil from Chitwari area of Jaipur district. Also, 50 kg of adulterated milk cake was destroyed by food safety officers.
The food safety officers have served notices to the firm owner under Food Safety and Standards Act. They said that action will be taken only after they receive the report of test done of the samples taken from the firms. The raids were conducted in Chitwari area of Jaipur district. The officials claimed that the owner of a firm was using milk powder and refined oil as an adulterant. The food safety officers conducted raids at 12 such firms preparing mawa. They have also destroyed 25 kg of mawa on suspicion of it being adulterated.
Also, in another raid conducted in Shahpura of Jaipur district, the food safety wing officials found that the owner of the firm was selling “adulterated” milk cake with the name of “suji cake” and “sweet cake”. “They have started fooling people by selling adulterated milk cake with different names. When we conducted raids, they refused to accept that it is milk cake. They keep the product in big packets of 10-12 kg and sell it to customers by cutting pieces. But, when food safety officers conduct inspection, they show the label on 10 kg packet mentioning it as “suji cake or sweet cake” but when they sell it to the customers, they do not mention that it is not milk cake but it is suji cake,” said an official. He said that they sell it for Rs 300 per kg.
The officials said that the adulterated milk cake is supplied from Alwar’s Khaithal and Ramgarh area. “Milk cake is prepared by using only milk and sugar. But, they are using cheap refined oil and suji for preparing a product which requires less investment and it gives better return to such traders,” he said.
FSDA collects 45 samples, 22 fail test
Meerut: Ahead of Holi, the Food Safety and Drugs Authority (FSDA) collected 45 samples of suspected adulterated food items being sold to the residents here. 22 out of the 45 samples have failed the test. Moreover, five items were found unsafe for consumption, 13 were found substandard and four were found misbranded.
“We had sent a total number of 45 samples to Lucknow testing laboratory. Out of these, 22 samples failed the test. Also, five items were found unsafe for consumption, 13 were found substandard and four were found misbranded. Action will be taken against the food outlets flouting norms as per the law,” said designated officer, FSDA, Meerut unit, Archana Dheeran.
For the first time, the samples taken were sent to Lucknow testing laboratory on the same day to get the reports at the earliest which otherwise took more than a month, added Dheeran.
“Meanwhile, we took 13 samples of suspected food items on Monday and sent them to the Lucknow laboratory. Reports will also be shared soon,” said Dheeran.
The drive against adulterated food items kickstarted ahead of Holi to keep an eye on adulterated items. Special care will be taken to prevent adulteration of ghee, besan, oil, chips, papad, khoya, sweets and others. The areas identified for selling adulterated food items include Khiwai, Sardhana, Naglakhumba, Jainpur, Mawana and others.
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