KOCHI: Emphasising the need for continuous monitoring by authorities on the safety of the food being sold in the state, the Kerala High Court on Friday observed that had the enforcement been more effective, the death of 16-year-old girl, Devananda, of Kasaragod, due to food poisoning could have been avoided.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Devan Ramachandran and Justice Sophy Thomas observed: “Prima facie, we believe that, had the enforcement been more effective, the incident itself could have been avoided, particularly because the Food Safety Commissioner had not renewed the licence of the food outlet and it was directed to close down.”
The court made the oral observation while hearing a suo motu case registered in connection with the food poisoning incidents in Kasaragod. The court said that the suo motu case was initiated to make sure that various authorities vested with powers under the Food Safety and Standards Act as also other jurisdictional authorities conduct themselves statutorily on a regular basis without having to wait for an incident of the nature to happen.
ACTION AGAINST EATERIES NOT ENSURING FOOD SAFETY
T’Puram: Health Minister Veena George has warned of strict action against eateries which do not follow food safety standards. The Food Safety Department has been conducting a statewide campaign since May 2. As many as 1,132 inspections have been conducted in the past five days. 110 eateries were served closure notice including 61 shops which did not have licence or registration and 49 eateries which functioned in unhygienic conditions. 347 outlets were served improvement notice. 140 kg of stale meat was confiscated. 93 samples have been sent for lab tests.