HYDERABAD: Recalling the recent release of State Food Study Index (SFSI), which noted that the state of Telangana has not been able to meet the minimum food safety standards and needs to do a lot more on the aspect of food safety, the Telangana High Court observed that the state government seems to be sleeping over the recommendations duly made in this regard by the first round-table meeting held by the Union government in January 2018.
Dealing suo motu with a PIL on use of carbide to ripen fruits and its effects on human health, a division bench, comprising Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A. Abhishek Reddy, lambasted the state government for not having food safety officers (FSOs) in proportion with population and being non-serious about taking action against those adulterating fruits using carbide.
The bench pointed out that Tamil Nadu, which created and filled 554 FSO posts for surveillance and food testing to check adulteration, obtained 75 points out of 100 in the SFSI rankings on food safety measures. But Telangana state has got only 40, which was woefully dismal.
“It is unfortunate that there are only 25 FSOs in the state to inspect food safety and take action, whereas the population is nearly four crore. Despite the round-table meeting recommending that the state create 90 FSOs with 35 designated officers, the state has not shown interest in creating these posts till the court interferes,” the bench observed.
