Lodge complaints with FSSAI when you find adulterated food ! – Shri. Mohan Kembalkar, Assistant Commissioner, Food and Drugs Administration
If adulterated ingredients are used in food items; if there is a wrong label seen on the packaging of any food pack; if advertisements are shown which are misleading people, there are provisions of punishment to the guilty under the existing laws for the protection of food. There are punishments like charging a fine and imprisonment, etc. for these types of offences. Many times, milk is adulterated by adding urea, starch, detergent, etc. The website of ‘Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)’ guides you on detecting food adulteration. When we detect adulteration in milk or any food item, a complaint can be lodged with FSSAI either over the phone, or online, or through correspondence. On receiving a complaint, the officers of the food safety squad even officially inform the complainant about the action taken. Alert citizens should lodge complaints with FSSAI, was an appeal made by Shri. Mohan Kembalkar, the Assistant Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Kolhapur while speaking in the special online discussions program organised jointly by ‘Arogya Sahayya Samiti’ and ‘Surajya Abhiyan’ on the subject of ‘How to identify food adulteration and its solution’.
Shri. Sunil Pakhare, a junior science officer working with the District public health laboratory, Satara and Kolhapur explained by giving demonstrations on how to detect adulteration in milk, tea powder, pulses, etc. This program was shown on Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS)’s website ‘Hindujagruti.org’, and its youtube channel ‘HinduJagruti’; besides its Twitter handle. All citizens should watch this program and the next program on the same topic to be telecast on 20th October 2021, was an appeal made by Shri. Narendra Surve of HJS. He also appealed to the citizens to contact ‘Surajya Abhiyan’ for starting a movement against food adulteration.
Shri. Kembalkar said further that many times chemicals are used for the artificially ripening of fruits. Different colours are used even in the making of juices. Citizens can inform any such kind of adulteration to the central department of FSSAI on 18000112100 and toll-free no. 1800222365 for Maharashtra. Citizens should avoid eating food where the rules regarding cleanliness are not observed; so also food sold in the open on roadsides.
