THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ‘A customer is the most important visitor on our premises.’ This quote popularly attributed to Mahatma Gandhi graces the walls of most eateries, right from leading restaurants to local tea shops, across the state. But when it comes to food safety, the customers are a neglected lot. The recent incidents of food poisoning and the subsequent raids by the food safety department have once again emphasised the need to formulate a traceability protocol that would ensure food security at every stage — from producer to distributor to customer.
Although the state is yet to adopt measures to implement food traceability, the fruit-vegetable and aqua farmers who export products to the European Union (EU) and Japan have already adopted the protocol prescribed by those countries. This became the norm after the EU slapped a temporary ban on the import of fruits and vegetables such as alphonso mangoes, eggplant and bitter gourd from India because of the presence of antibiotic residue, fruit flies and minerals like cadmium, some years ago.
In 2012, the presence of salmonella bacteria was found in frozen tuna and in 2010 the export of bovine meat from the country was banned by Russia. This had prompted the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), under the ministry of health and family welfare, to provide standards and control policies. The Food Safety and Standards (Food Recall Procedure) Regulations, 2017 was aimed to assure food recall and safety by incorporating all other laws in the sector.
It’s high time that Kerala, which relies on other states for most of its vegetable, egg, milk and meat needs, implements traceability, say officials with the food safety department. “We get fish, chicken, egg from other states in large quantities,” a top official told TNIE on condition of anonymity. “If we don’t know the source of the raw meat, vegetables and the distribution stage we cannot protect the general public. The consumer has a right to know what they are buying or eating.”
It is the state government that has the responsibility to take the initiative in this regard. In fruits, vegetables and beef exports, traceability is now an approved norm, he said. “Unless the traceability protocol is implemented in some form to identify the different stages of the supply chain, the ongoing exercise of raids on hotels will remain a farce,” he warned. The Food Safety and Standards Regulations of 2011, however, excludes food caterers and restaurants unless they are a multi-outlet business.
Shaji Baby John, one of the pioneers of food processing and aquaculture exports in the state, told TNIE that more and more developed countries are now implementing traceability. “Aquaculture exports to Japan have to be antibiotic-free. If the presence of antibiotic residue is revealed entire consignments are rejected. In India, the product is tested by the Marine Products Export Development Authority or in labs approved by the central government. The consumer knows the source of the product and the distribution levels,” he said. Shaji added that many of the aquaculture farmers have now turned to organic cultivation.