KRISHNAGIRI: Every noon meal and anganwadi centre must store sample of cooked food in a glass container till evening so that problem can be identified if untoward incidents, like food poisoning or students falling ill after eating the food, happen. But a few noon meal and anganwadi centres in in Kaveripattinam, Kelamangalam and Thalli blocks are not maintaining samples, according to residents of the villages and health department officials.
"During a recent inspection in Kelamangalam, we found that anganwadi and noon meal centres in Aalapatti, Kadambakuttai, Bairamangalam, Poonapalli, Nerupukuttai, Nagamangalam and Dodda Thimmanahalli did not store food samples. The issue was communicated to Kelamangalam Block Development Officer and Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) of ICDS (anganwadi)," said a health department official.
Ramasamy (name changed), a resident of Erumathanapalli in Anchetti, told TNIE that the noon meal centre in Panchayat Union Primary School the village doesn't have food sample.
Noon meal PA to Collector Santhanam said he would ask his staffs to properly collect and store food samples. There are over 1, 700 noon meal centres in the district.
Designated Officer, Food Safety Officer and Drug Administration Venkatesh said he would communicate about the issue to noon meal PA and a circular will be sent by noon meal department. Last week, food safety department staffs collected samples from a few anganwadi centres and noon meal centres and sent them to labs to check the quality of food, he added.
Chief Education Officer KP Maheshwari said she would speak to noon meal department officials on the issue and also direct headmasters to ensure the rule is followed.
Programme Officer ICDS, Jayanthi, did not respond to calls and text messages for a comment on the issue.