With food poisoning rearing its ugly head once again in Ernakulam district, there is increasing demand that officials of the Food Safety department, civic agencies, and the Health department get their act together to ensure that clean food is prepared in hygienic surroundings.
This comes in the wake of reports of dozens of people, including Ernakulam RTO G. Anantakrishnan, being admitted to hospitals following food poisoning in the last weekend. He and his son had eaten ghee roast from a popular vegetarian eatery in Kakkanad. There were apparently 10 persons in the same hospital from Kakkanad alone with symptoms of food poisoning.
“Innumerable people shared their experience of food poisoning once they came to know that I was hospitalised. Most of them suffered in silence and did not bother to complain to the Food Safety department and other agencies. These agencies are duty-bound to frequently inspect the premises of eateries, ensure hygiene, collect samples, and also mandate that only treated water was let out,” Mr. Anantakrishnan said.
Recruitment
While demanding an increase in manpower to enforce norms regarding stale, adulterated food items, food safety officials said most of them were unable to inspect eateries and bakeries even once every six months since each Assembly constituency had only a single food safety inspector. There are thus 14 of them in Ernakulam district where eateries and bakeries abound and are cropping up every day, while a vast district like Idukki has only five of them. The situation is, however, better than in 2021 since most vacancies have been filled, they added.
Awareness
Deputy Commissioner of Food Safety, Ernakulam, Raghunatha Kurup said efforts were on to create awareness among stakeholders about the need to sell freshly prepared food in the wake of a spree of deaths being reported after consumption of shawarma and others. “Food delivered online must have a label that mentions the time by which it ought to be consumed since items like mayonnaise could trigger food poisoning. Moreover, vegetable mayonnaise is any day safer than its egg-based counterpart,” he added.
Display toll-free number
Random samples are being collected from manufacturing units, bakeries, shops, and supermarkets. In addition, all eateries and bakeries must prominently display the toll-free number (1800 425 1125) of the department, so that customers could complain if need arose, he added.
State president of Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association G. Jayapal, who is also chairman of Test of Safety and Taste (TOAST) coordination committee, said awareness classes led by doctors, veterinarians, and food safety officials were being held across Kerala for hotel owners to ensure the quality of edible items from the farm to the table. “It has also come to our notice that bags of online food delivery firms in which food is delivered at the doorstep need to be cleaned frequently or replaced to ensure safety of food,” he said.
