Safe food is a universal requirement and everyone should work together towards creating the ideal environment for promoting availability of safe food, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said.
Inaugurating the State-level observance of World Health Day here on Tuesday, Mr. Chandy said it was high time people realised that safe food was the primary requirement for health. The demand for safe food should come from the people and become a movement so that organic farming initiatives get more impetus, he said.
The logo on Food Safety was released by Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala. He said adulteration of food and excessive use of pesticides in farm products should be strictly restrained and that the people should cooperate with the government in putting a stop to such practices.
Health Minister V.S. Sivakumar, who presided over the function, said the government was in the process of strengthening the Food Safety Department by augmenting testing facilities. Apart from the 70 Food Safety Officers currently functioning, 155 posts have already been created. Steps will also be taken for appointing Food Safety Officers in all 140 Assembly constituencies.
Guidelines
Mr. Chandy released the ‘Guidelines on safe and healthy food’, brought out by the Indian Medical Association on the occasion of World Health Day on Tuesday, by handing over a copy to Health Minister V.S. Sivakumar. A seminar on ‘Safe food and food policy’ organised by the IMA and the Community Medicine Department of the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, was also held on the day.
