Orders regular checks of food establishments, mid-day meals in schools
Tribune Times News
Kapurthala, September 15: Reaffirming the Punjab Government and district administration’s commitment to safeguarding public health and ensuring the availability of safe and quality food, Deputy Commissioner Akash Bansal on Tuesday chaired a meeting of the District Level Advisory Committee to review the functioning of the Food Safety Wing of the Health Department, including food sampling, awareness activities and the progress of ongoing food safety initiatives in the district.
The Deputy Commissioner directed the Food Safety Wing to intensify inspections of food establishments and increase food sampling by doubling the existing target. He also instructed officials to conduct regular checks of vehicles carrying food products entering the district from other parts of the state to ensure compliance with food safety standards.
The Deputy Commissioner also directed officials to conduct regular inspections and sampling of mid-day meals in at least three schools. He ordered intensified checking of food stalls operating in markets and busy areas, including Shalimar Bagh, Mall Road and Hargobind Nagar in Phagwara, besides other areas of the district.
He directed food business operators using cooking oil for frying of various food items like sweet shop owners, hotel, restaurants and those dealing with fast food items and such other food business operators to strictly comply with food safety norms and fully ensure that the cooking oil having developed total polar compounds (TPC) of more than 25% shall (i) either be topped up with fresh oil before further usage or (ii) be discarded and removed from the further usage in the food chain in order to protect public health from adverse effect of the enhanced TPC on the human heart and other vital organs of the body.
The Deputy Commissioner also directed the Education Department to ensure that energy drinks are not sold within a radius of 50 metres of schools in urban areas and 100 metres of schools in rural areas. He stressed the need for regular monitoring and strict compliance with these directions.
The Deputy Commissioner further directed officials to ensure that all Anganwari centres in the district are registered with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). He emphasised that registration and compliance with food safety standards at Anganwari centres were essential to ensure the quality and safety of food being provided to children. He reiterated that the district administration was committed to protecting the health and well-being of the people and that strict monitoring and enforcement of food safety standards would continue across the district.
