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The nice epic of Mahabharata tells us about Akshaya Patra, the divine copper vessel gifted by Lord Surya to the Pandavas throughout their 12-year exile. The Akshaya Patra would supply limitless meals, which might not solely feed the Pandavas however all of the sages and individuals who visited them, till Panchali had her meals.
Whereas divine interventions assured an abundance of meals in epics, as people, we have to domesticate our personal meals. As we observe World Meals Security Day on June 7, we have to perceive the significance of consuming proper and guaranteeing that the meals is protected. Analysis reveals a direct relationship between meals and well being. Protected meals is important for sound well being because it not solely meets our dietary wants but additionally our total well-being. India has developed a strong framework for setting meals requirements and rules.
The Meals Security and Requirements Authority of India (FSSAI) was established underneath the Meals Security and Requirements Act, 2006. The Authority has a scientific committee and 21 scientific panels which can be its principal scientific arms within the requirements growth course of. The authority has empanelled greater than 200 scientific specialists from totally different scientific organisations. These panels are continually engaged in growing requirements for classes, starting from cereals, milk and milk merchandise, fruits, greens and spices to oils and fat, water, fish and fisheries, meat and meat merchandise, sweets, genetically modified organisms and meals components.
What are the doable areas the place contamination can occur? Other than pesticide residues and hint quantities of heavy metals that vegetation soak up from soil or contaminated water, aflatoxins secreted by mould and yeast as a result of improper storage or microbial contamination additionally have an effect on meals security. Unhygienic dealing with of meals can be a supply of contamination and particular focus is required at crowded public locations. A concerted and built-in method for curbing meals contamination at such places, with measures equivalent to stopping the sale of meals within the open and guaranteeing protected potable water, is required from all stakeholders, together with municipal firms, panchayats, and meals security commissioners.
The federal government already has a framework in place with meals security commissioners heading on the state-level, designated officers on the sub-divisional stage, and 4,000 meals security officers holding a hawk eye on meals adulteration and contamination on the bottom. There are 246 FSSAI-notified meals laboratories within the nation with state-of-the-art infrastructure, the place extremely certified specialists guarantee meals samples are examined in a time certain method.
Enforcement is undertaken on the idea of surveillance, monitoring, inspection and random sampling of meals merchandise. A complete of 370,949 meals samples had been collected between 2019 and 2022, out of which 90,473 had been discovered to be nonconfirming. These included 14,636 samples that had been discovered unsafe, 45,647 samples that had been substandard and 30,190 samples that had labelling defects, had been deceptive or had different points. On the idea of this, a complete of 80,513 civil instances had been launched that noticed 51,599 convictions and penalties of ₹159.69 crore being raised. A complete of 13,496 prison instances had been additionally registered, which noticed 1,957 convictions and penalties of ₹3.82 crore being raised.
A spotlight space of FSSAI has been road meals. India’s road meals market performs a significant function within the nation’s meals tradition and in shaping the food-based economic system. Regardless of their contribution, road meals distributors face a number of challenges, and considerations have been raised about hygiene and security.
To resolve this, in 2014, the federal government initiated the Road Vendor (Safety of Livelihood and Regulation of Road Merchandising) Act that facilitates the formation of City Merchandising Committees (TVCs) on the local-level. Thus far, round 5 million road distributors have been recognized as being eligible for advantages underneath the PM Road Vendor’s Atma Nirbhar Nidhi Scheme (PM SVANidhi).
As a part of its Eat Proper India motion that goals to rework the nation’s meals ecosystem, FSSAI carries out the Eat Proper Road Meals Hub initiative, with the target of guaranteeing hygienic and protected meals is served at these hubs, and the social and financial standing of the road vendor group is improved by serving to them enhance the standard of their choices. As a part of the initiative, a complete of 137 hubs have been licensed to date.
Empowering meals security officers, meals handlers and meals enterprise operators (FBOs) with the required instruments to implement meals security and high quality by coaching has been a spotlight space for FSSAI, and it has skilled 1.1 million meals handlers and FBOs since 2017. FSSAI plans to scale up its coaching programme to 2.5 million meals handlers and FBOs within the subsequent three years. On Could 31, the Union Cupboard authorised a mega operation of making the world’s largest grain storage plan within the cooperative sector, with a capability of 70 million tonnes. Whereas this could be India’s Akshaya Patra, the well being ministry is equipped with ample equipment and rules to take care of the protection side whereas invoking the divine blessings — Shathamaanam Bhavathi Shathaayuh. World Meals Security Day provides us a chance to know the necessary function we have to play on this course of and recommit ourselves to it.
G Kamala Vardhana Rao, IAS, is CEO, FSSAI. The views expressed are private
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