While serving food free of cost is for a good cause, the organisers also check the quality of food. B. Murugan of Nizhal Maiyam said that he stopped distributing leftover food to orphanages and homes as he came to know that some of them stored and served it to children the next day.
“At times the food was spoilt and it posed a threat to the health of the children,” he said.
When he gets a call on leftover food, he shares contact details of orphanages and homes with the donors. Padmanaban Gopalan of No Food Waste said that they collect food and bring it to their two centralised collection points in the city where it is tested and tasted before it is distributed to the deserving.
“We maintain temperature of food above 60 degrees and ensure that it is consumed in less than four hours,” he said. According to him, less than two per cent of food they get is not good for consumption.
Food safety officials said that they have not checked the quality of food served free of cost.
“We believe that people only give food that they can eat, to others. We have not received any complaints of ailments suffered by homes or orphanages by eating food served to them by sponsors,” the officer said.
Stating that they have to check quality of food even if it is distributed free of cost, the officer added that they will check it, if there is a need.
While checking food quality at the source point is not possible as food is collected from various places, the authorities could consider checking it at the end point before the deserving people eat it.
