Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 1: Use of poisonous chemicals in food, milk and milk products are increasing day by day in the State by few greedy elements, especially, during on-going festive season but the authorities are in slumber and failed to check this menace.
Addressing a press conference here today, senior functionaries of “We The Human”, a public charitable trust including a number of environmentalists/food technologists and its office bearers, K Y S Manhas, Dr Sadiq Nargal, Prem Singh, Ajay Sawhney and others expressed concern over increasing food adulteration.
They also put question mark on the role being played by the enforcement agencies, which they said, have failed to set up required infrastructural facilities and posting of requisite fully equipped enforcement staff, with food technology backgrounds, on strategic locations despite regular monitoring of the J&K High Court since last few years.
“Food Safety Tribunals are not fully equipped with requisite manpower despite J&K HC directives. Only recently, on 4th June 2018, the High Court directed the State Government to comply with the court directions on curbing the food adulteration menace or face appropriate orders”, they added.
KYS Manhas (a retired Principal District & Session Judge) said that poor implementation of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 and the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 that created the food regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), coupled with law enforcers (food inspectors) and deficiencies in the testing laboratories, lead to persistence of menace of food adulteration.
“The Legal Metrology Department has kept a criminal silence over non printing of mandatory information on sweet boxes sold by reputed big sweet vendors in Jammu, especially, viz date of manufacturing, date of expiry, composition, colours and preservatives used etc and same is the case with big bakery houses of the State”, they alleged and cautioned the law enforcing agencies to wake up from deep slumber and act against the processors, manufacturers and vendors who are selling poison to the people.
They also appealed Divisional Commissioner Jammu to form special squads of food technologists under the leadership of Tehsildars to keep a special check over food adulteration.
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