Health officials find it hard to enforce food safety Act

The district health authorities are finding it hard to enforce the Food Safety Standards Act, 2006, in the district even after seven years. Thought the Union Government had made it mandatory that every petty food manufacturers and big houses had to get themselves registered with the health department under the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011, there are a few businessmen coming forward in this regard.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has laid down science-based standards for articles of food and to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure the availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

Under the provisions of the regulations, the cottage food manufacturing industry, with an annual turnover not exceeding Rs 12 lakh, will have to get registered with the health department, while the big food manufacturing having an annual turnover over Rs 12 lakh must obtain licence from the department.

Sources in the department said that a majority of the owners running petty food industry were reluctant to get themselves registered with the department.

Moreover, the department has failed to come down heavily on roadside vends and eateries as they are of migratory nature.

There are thousands of hotels, dhabas, taverns, roadside vends and rehris catering to lakhs of needy people across the district who are hardly interested in getting them registered with the department, a senior official in the health department said.

Talking to The Tribune, district health officer (DHO), Dr Balwinder Singh said that 3,400 units of cottage food industry had been registered, while 1,050 big food manufacturing units from across the district had obtained licences from the department so far.

The registration fee is Rs 100, while licence seekers have to pay Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 as per the provisions, he added.

The DHO, however, revealed that the owners of petty food industry and of big food manufacturing houses were showing least interest even though the department had held different meeting to educate them.