Bhubaneswar: The whole system of testing of food and beverage samples for adulteration, safety and misbranding in the state has been marred by the lack of adequate food safety laboratories which can prove cases of unsafe food items from the collected samples.
Data received from the health ministry claims that the state has been grappling with shortage of food testing laboratories. This comes at a time when many other states— either through government outlets or through private players— have established food testing laboratories and equipped it with adequate staff to ensure public health.
According to the data from the ministry the state has currently a lone private food testing labs notified under the Food Safety Act, 2006 while another such lab is under transition phase. The state, on the other hand, does not have any referral labs notified under the act till now.
Many other states have several food testing labs to test food samples collected through inspections. Maharashtra has 29 such operational centres while Delhi has 20 such centres. Similarly Tamil Nadu has 18 such labs, Kerala has 16 while Uttar Pradesh has nine such labs.
The availability of such labs in good numbers also seems to be affecting the quantum of food samples tested per year. Data from the FSSAI claim that states which had more number of food testing labs were found to test more food samples. Tamil Nadu which hosts 18 such labs in 2018-19 tested a total of 5,730 food samples.
Similarly Kerala with 16 labs tested a total of 4,378 samples while Delhi with 20 such centres tested 2,464 samples. Odisha, with only one food testing lab, tested a total of 327 samples in the same time period.
As implementation and enforcement of Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006 primarily lies with State/UT Governments, regular surveillance monitoring, inspection and random sampling of food products including fruits and vegetables are being carried out by the Food Safety Officers of States/UTs and action is taken as per the provisions of FSS Act, 2006 against the defaulting Food Business Operators.
FSSAI has advised the State food authorities from time to time to keep a strict vigil by regularly drawing food samples from all sources, namely manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, and to take strict action against the offenders under the provisions of FSS Act, 2006.