KOCHI: The Food Safety Authority empowered to ensure quality in college and school canteens is hamstrung by lack of personnel to make the scene tidy.
“Overall there are only nine food inspectors in the district to do the work including surveillance on hotels and other eateries, including canteens. It is impossible for this small workforce to ensure cleanliness and quality.
Moreover, there is just one vehicle for the department in the district which is at the disposal of the District Food Safety Officer. To navigate the entire district with this vehicle is also impossible and meeting emergencies is beyond the realm of reason”, said an official in the department.
He, however, said the authority had made it a point to ensure that all canteens which had a turnover of over Rs 1 lakh functioned with a licence while those with a lesser turnover took a registration.
“Some of the canteens are directly run by the colleges while others give them to contractors. The licence or registration for the first segment is given to principals or directors while the licence for the latter is given to contractors. We also conduct periodical checks in the canteens,” he said.
The official said the Food Safety Authority had also instructed canteen owners that raw material should be procured from shops with licence or registration. “We also stipulate quality with regard to the water used and ask them to keep a register on cleaning water tanks and wells,” the official added.
