KUMUD JENAMANI
Jamshedpur, June 18: Due to lacking on the part of the state’s existing food safety checking mechanisms, the people in Jamshedpur are compelled to eat whatever they are served at any eatery.
Though a statutory body, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), is in place to check the standard of food being served at hotels, restaurants and roadside eateries, these food joints are hardly apprehensive of any such watchdog.
The management of hotels, restaurants and other eateries are carrying out their business with impunity because the government machinery which is supposed to ensure serving safe and standard food have become crippled.
Food safety officers who are posted district-wise to check the quality of food being served are compelled to work effectively, the reason being the state food testing laboratory at Namkum in Ranchi lying defunct for the past two years.
East Singhbhum district food safety officer Dipshree Srivastava said after the Namkum lab turned defunct in December 2020, the food samples collected from hotels, restaurants and eateries were to be sent to FSSAI Food Testing Laboratory in Kolkata.
“We had sent several samples to the Kolkata Lab, but not only do we have to pay a huge cost — Rs 10,000 per sample — there, but also have to wait for a prolonged period to get the test report. As we do not have enough funds we no longer send any food samples there,” said Srivastava.
The district food safety officer, on being queried, said the work of sample collection is done round the year but during the festival period they have to intensify the exercise.
She said they would not face any difficulty in getting the food samples tested in Namkum lab as it is government-run and thus free of cost.
“As we have to take four or five samples from any eatery at a time during the raid, it becomes beyond our reach to send the samples for the test at the Kolkata Lab. Now the cost of testing each sample has gone up to Rs 12,000. Hence we finish our raiding exercise by just looking into the hygienic aspect of a food joint and verifying whether an eatery is FSSAI-registered and the food stock there is adhered to the mandatory FSSAI mark,” explained the district food safety officer.
The district food safety officer works under a sub-divisional officer who has to recommend action against any hotel, restaurant or eatery as per the Food Safety Act-2006 if any anomalous food is found. Earlier, district food inspectors would do the job.
The owner of a Bistupur-based reputed restaurant while talking to lagatar24.com observed that the issue of the food safety officer’s inability to send food samples to any paid lab is like a tiger without teeth.
“Considering the present situation in food samples test, I will say until the state government’s lab in Namkum does not resume operations the administration concerned should take the help of drug inspectors who are better qualified to tackle any food joint serving adulterated or substandard food,” said the restaurant owner requesting anonymity.
