The Hindu : Front Page : Food safety regulatory authority soon

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Friday, Jan 23, 2009
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Food safety regulatory authority soon

N.J. Nair

To ensure quality and standards of food stuff produced and marketed

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A food safety regulatory and monitoring authority for ensuring the quality and standards of the food stuffs produced and marketed in the State will be functional soon as per the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act.

Official sources told The Hindu here that the State government had taken the lead in constituting a Food Safety Commissionerate headed by Dinesh Arora and set the ground for enforcing laws to regulate the organised and unorganised food sectors.

The commissionerate would coordinate various government agencies as well as the local self-government institutions which issued clearances for setting up food production units. Civic bodies would have an integral role in the monitoring mechanism, the sources said.

With the Central government opening up the retail sector and lifting the curbs on trading, local markets are being flooded with a wide variety of food stuffs from different States and countries. Kerala being a potential market for multinational as well as domestic companies, the State government has felt the urgency for evolving a mechanism to monitor and regularly test the quality and safety of food materials to safeguard the interest of consumers.

Two days ago, Mr. Arora organised a strategic session to work out the modalities for improving the food testing facilities and also implementing the laws to ensure the hygiene and quality of the products.

The Food Safety and Standards Act was implemented at Sabarimala during the festival season and Food Safety Special Officer K.Anil Kumar was deputed to oversee the functioning of eateries as well as the ‘prasadam’ production units at the Sabarimala Sannidhanam.

While augmenting the facilities at the analytical laboratories in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode at an estimated cost of Rs.5 crore, steps have been taken for securing the certification of the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL).

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