The office of the Designated Officer (DO), Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), in Mysuru will soon launch ‘Information, Education and Communication’ (IEC) activities across the district to educate roadside food vendors against packing food items in newspapers.
Acting on a recent health advisory from FSSAI, the Mysuru office is chalking out plans to take up awareness campaigns across the district. The national food regulator had informed them that newspaper ink contains chemicals and it is not advisable to use newspapers to cover food items.
Suresh, Designated Officer in-charge, FSSAI Mysuru, told The Hindu that his office would launch the IEC activities soon to get vendors to adopt safe methods of packing food.
According to Mr. Suresh, Mysuru has over 1,500 roadside eateries and efforts will be made to reach out to every vendor — either through their association or through other means — to educate them about the hazards of continuing the practice of wrapping food in newspapers.
Roadside eateries are supposed to avail licence under FSSAI. During the awareness campaign, the issue of licence renewal too will be taken up, he said. Besides availing a trade licence from the Myrusu City Corporation, it is mandatory for vendors to get a licence from FSSAI as well, he said.
Besides roadside eateries, restaurants and star hotels are supposed to have an FSSAI licence. A penalty ranging from Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 3 lakh can be imposed on those flouting the norms, he explained. The FSSAI licence fee starts from Rs. 100.
Mr. Suresh added that the MCC has proposed to set up food zones across the city. He said a committee has been constituted for establishing food zones to prevent haphazard expansion of roadside eateries.
