KASARAGOD: Three government departments -- Health, Local Self-Government, and Food Safety -- responsible for ensuring hygienic food is served at restaurants and eateries are not making any effective interventions or inspections, said additional district magistrate (ADM) AK Ramendran in his enquiry report. Kasaragod collector Bhandary Swagat Ranveerchand had asked him to conduct an enquiry into the status of food safety measures after E V Devananda, a 16-year-old schoolgirl died and 52 others fell ill after having shawarma from Ideal snacks bar in Cheruvathur on May 1 and 2.
In his report submitted to the collector, the ADM said there were no effective inspections at any restaurants and eateries. Officials of the panchayat, Health, and Food Safety Departments said they inspected eateries and bakeries only if there were complaints. Under the existing rules, a sanitation certificate and a health card for workers were not mandatory for the panchayat to issue a licence to a food business. But if a restaurant applied for a sanitation certificate, the health inspector issued them without inspecting the establishment. There are no records of the inspection, either.
ADM Ramendran told TNIE that the owner of eateries and bakeries should maintain a health card for all his employees and ensure that none of his employees have communicable diseases. "The workers should undergo checking at the primary health centre or the community health centre (CHC) once every six months and update the health card," he said. The health inspectors of primary health centres (PHC) work under the panchayat secretary, which helps in better coordination.
But the health inspectors of the community health centres (such as in Cheruvathur) worked under the medical officer of the CHC. The panchayat secretary said in such cases, there were certain limitations in effectively deploying them. The assistant commissioner of the Food Safety Department told the ADM that the food safety licence was issued to restaurants and eateries based on a licence issued by the panchayat and water test reports submitted online, not after field visits. Three of the five posts of the Food Safety Department in Kasaragod are vacant.
The department does not have the resources to conduct site visits before issuing licences. It restricts such visits to food manufacturing units before issuing licences. The ADM said disasters such as the recent one could be avoided if the three departments worked in tandem and ensured no food businesses operated without sanitation certificates and health cards and the licence from the Department of Food Safety. Also, food businesses should be subjected to routine inspections. The 2020 guidelines mandate only one inspection in two years. "Those which do not meet the standards should be shut down," he said.