COIMBATORE: A central government team comprising two officials from the Department of Food and Public Distribution under the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs made a surprise visit on Saturday to a private flour mill in Uthupalayam village near Annur in the city and inspected the manufacturing process of Fortified Rice Kernels (FRK) at the mill.
P K Singh, Deputy Director (Storage and Research), and Shobhit Siwach, Technical Officer (Storage and Research), deputed by the ministry to assess the moisture content of paddy affected by unseasonal rainfall in the delta districts, held an inspection at the mill for over three hours.
Official sources said the two officers checked whether the mill was operating in compliance with the Department of Food and Public Distribution's standard operating procedure (SOP) for FRK. Officials checked if FSSAI guidelines and FRK standards were followed, if BIS-approved machines were used for production, and verified the milling licence. The inspection was conducted from 3 to 6 pm at the mill, accompanied by an officer from the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation, sources added.
A deputy director and two technical officers of the union team made similar surprise inspections at two mills located at Puduchatram and Tiruchengode in Namakkal district. Following this, three officials from the team will assess paddy samples from affected delta districts on Sunday to determine the moisture content of the paddy.