Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Jan 10: Flouting the Food Safety Act 2006, the shopkeepers in Srinagar are selling unprocessed and loosely packed chicken and fish Kababs which pose threat to the health of consumers.
Everyday, tons of raw fish and chicken Kebabs from Fish Market Delhi are imported here without any proper packaging and processing. These Kebabs packets can be seen stacked at the shop fronts, crammed in polythene bag, stapled at one end without any labelling and airtight packing.
“These kabas packets have no manufacturers’ name, no expiry date, no packaging date and the type of meat is not mentioned,” said Feroz Ahmed, a local adding “we don’t know what kind of meat it is.”
According to food experts, the perishable packaged food items like chicken and fish must be properly labelled for legal, technical and administrative reasons. They said the manufacturer’s name, nutritional value and expiry date should also appear on the label of packaged food.
“Label declaration on food is very important for knowing the ingredients and nutritional value and helps in checking the freshness of food and best before dates. It provides a clue for food recall or food withdrawal if necessary,” the experts said.
Despite adverse health effects, these kebabs are selling like hot cakes in Old City areas. “We sell 20-30 kilograms of Kababs daily and have never received any complaint. A few months back it was banned but then the ban was lifted,” said a Kebab-seller. “People simply sniff it to check if it alright,” he added.
“The refrigeration is a key preventive measure. Bacteria like psychtrophs grow slowly at refrigeration temperature below 7 degree Celsius but grow optimally at temperatures above refrigeration e.g. 25-30,” doctors said.
Stating that poorly packaged food are a potential source of disease, doctors said that it can cause gastro intestinal illness that results from ingesting food borne microorganisms, their toxins, parasites or chemicals. “It gets contaminated by bacteria like clostodium botlinium causing botulism due to its toxin which is life threatening…it may also cause clostodium induced gastroenteritis”, said Dr Qayoom Khan, Assistant Registrar at Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital.
“It is also related to some cancers mostly colon and prostate cancer. Prolonged usage of such products adversely affects coronary arteries of heart causing coronary artery disease and ultimately cardiac failure,” he added.
Meanwhile, an official of the Food and Drug Control Department Kashmir admitted that the labeling is important for the packaged food items. “Any unlabeled items would be ceased and the seller would be penalized,” he said.
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