Even as Tamil Nadu Food Safety and
Drug Administration Department launched a drive in the city prior to Deepavali
to ascertain the quality of sweets sold for the festival season, they were
unable to proceed beyond the preliminary levels.
All that the officials could do was
check if the sweets were branded properly. They were unable to determine if the
products were safe for consumption owing to infrastructural deficiencies.
Sources in the Tamil Nadu Food
Safety and Drug Administration Department said that microbiological tests, done
to check for growth of disease-causing bacteria in food samples, was not being
performed at the Government Food Analysis Laboratory here due to lack of the
necessary materials, such as testing material.
Chemical testing
Only chemical testing, done to
determine the type of ingredients in foods, was performed on the samples of
sweets taken ahead of Deepavali this year along with inspection of labelling.
But, this is not enough to completely prove that the food was safe for
consumption.
Coimbatore has one of the six food
analysis laboratories in Tamil Nadu that are approved under the Food Safety and
Standards Act, 2006.
The microbiological tests were vital
to detect growth of salmonella, a bacterium which can cause food poisoning or
E.coli bacteria, which can cause acute diarrhoea.
‘Misbranded’
According to the sources, Food
Safety Officers had taken samples from 25 small and major sweets outlets across
the urban and rural areas of Coimbatore four days before Deepavali when the
festival demand was at its peak.
The laboratory had found a majority
of the samples to be ‘misbranded’ while some were classified as ‘misbranded and
unsafe’ for consumption.
Very few samples were found to have
conformed to all norms.
When contacted, R. Kathiravan,
Designated Officer, Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department
(Food Safety Wing), told The Hindu that the problem had been conveyed to
their headquarters and the requisite infrastructure would be put in place at
the earliest.
The post of microbiologist at
Government Food Analysis Laboratory here, which was lying vacant for the past
four years, was filled up only three months ago.
The laboratory would soon begin
functioning fully, he added.
Colouring
A majority of the samples taken were
found to be fit for consumption with only a few having excess content of
colouring material. However, as most sweets were sold over the counter, very
few had the required packaging material and hence were declared ‘misbranded.’
The results of this year’s testing
would be used as the basis for future safety campaigns. Similar testing would
now be done ahead of all festival seasons, Dr. Kathiravan said.
The other approved food analysis
laboratories in Tamil Nadu are in Chennai, Salem, Thanjavur, Tirunelveli and
Madurai.
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