Toxication of edibles a cause of concern Food adulteration imperative in adulterous regime of BJP-PDP: Harsh

 STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Maggi controversy followed by Macroni and Pasta lab tests has only brought to the fore what is otherwise a matter of common knowledge namely the blatant violation of safety standards in various food products and the criminal apathy of the government to check the menace.
This was stated by Chairman JKNPP and former Minister, Harsh Dev Singh while addressing a meeting of party workers who had reportedly made several complaints of food adulteration with CAPD authorities which had failed to elicit any response from the concerned quarters.
Harsh remarked that food toxication and adulteration had assumed alarming proportions in the State with Food Safety Laws as well as the enforcement machinery needing a radical overhaul. He said that the recent disclosure of presence of excessive MSG (Mono Sodium Glutamate) and Lead in Maggi Noodles should be an eye opener for the State Government and CAPD Department which must activate the Legal Metrology Department, weights and measures officials besides Food and Drug Control Organisations which are otherwise in deep slumber failing to address the unabated sale of contaminated and adulterated edibles.
Harsh said persistent complaints regarding food adulteration in the state in the past had forced the government to enact Food Safety and Standard Act 2006 but the adulteration of eatables continues unabated due to lackadaisical approach of the government and tardy implementation of the Act. He pointed out that adulteration of majority of food items had become a widespread phenomenon with unscrupulous venders going scot-free despite repeated public complaints of defiance of the act.
Lambasting the designated monitoring agencies, he regretted that the said Act has remained confined to papers only with hardly any initiative having been taken by the concerned officers to check the unabated adulteration of food items which poses the most menacing threat to the lives of the consumers. He deplored that the Government’s attention is drawn towards the Act only when some tragic event happens due to food poisoning, food adulteration, adulteration of milk and milk products, unsafe drinking water or spurious drugs. Urging upon the strict implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act, Singh called for constitution of a Food Safety Standards Authority on the central pattern to be headed by a senior officer from civil services. He further sought the constitution of screening committee which should compromise officers of integrity.
Harsh further observed that Food Safety demanded adequate monitoring and inspection at each step of food production and supply chain which principle was hardly followed. He said that thousands of unlabelled locally produced edible products flood the market everyday despite failing to conform to the stipulated safety standards while there are others reportedly using ISI mark fraudulently. He called upon the State Government to ensure proper lab testing of all kinds of packaged food.
Pointing towards the political allergy to highly organised and unscrupulous production and supply chains, Harsh urged upon the CAPD Minister to launch a full throttle campaign against adulteration with rigorous punishment to the offenders.