The Food Safety Officers in select districts in Tamil Nadu did not have complete data on Food Business Operators (FBOs) functioning within their area, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, said.
Due to the absence of records/details relating to inspections, the Audit could not derive an assurance that all registered FBOs were actually inspected at least once a year by FSOs as per the Regulations, the CAG report on Compliance Audit for the year ended March 2023, tabled in the Assembly said.
Procurement and supply of high-end laboratory equipment without adequate planning, or ensuring the availability of sufficient infrastructure and adequate skilled manpower to handle the equipment, adversely affected the overall performance of the Food Analysis Laboratories, it said.
Procurement and supply of high-end laboratory equipment without adequate planning, or ensuring the availability of sufficient infrastructure and adequate skilled manpower to handle the equipment, adversely affected the overall performance of the Food Analysis Laboratories, it said.
In the absence of specific targets, there was no uniformity in the number of surveillance samples lifted in the districts. Inordinate delay in testing samples and reporting results, allowing untested food to be consumed by the public and not following food recall procedures defeated the basic objective of food safety and exposed the public to unsafe food.
The inordinate delay in obtaining accreditation by Food Analysis Laboratories led to samples being sent to NABL accredited private laboratories which resulted in discarding 19.79 per cent of the collected samples, as they expired even before analysis.
“This resulted in non-ascertainment of the quality of samples lifted for testing thereby defeating the purpose of lifting of the samples,” the report said and recommended periodical surveys to bring in all FBOs under the ambit of the Act to ensure a comprehensive and reliable database of FBOs for ensuring better enforcement and administration of the provisions of the FSS Act.
The government should address FSSAI for enabling an ‘alert system’ in the FoSCoS software by which FSOs get advance notification ahead of the dates by which their RCs/licenses expire so as to ensure that all FBOs carry out on their business with only valid RCs/Licenses,” the report said.
Timely approval for prosecution to punish erring FBOs, conducting periodical inspection of FBOs, especially street food vendors, steps to ensure that the food offered for public consumption was safe and conformed to standards besides taking stringent action against violators, and providing adequate manpower in the department for effective discharge of statutory functions were among the various recommendations.
The government should put in place a mechanism to ensure that ‘unsafe’ food was not allowed for consumption, it suggested.
On the Integrated Child Development Services in Tamil Nadu, the report said discrepancies in data of the total number of beneficiaries in TN ICDS, Poshan Tracker and Monthly Progress Reports led to inconsistencies in the data relied upon to monitor the implementation of the scheme.
“Lack of basic infrastructure viz., separate kitchen, water facility, toilets, play area etc., was noticed in 77 sampled Anganwadi centres functioning in government-owned and rented buildings,” it said.
Shortage in enrolment of beneficiaries aged three to six years under Supplementary Nutrition Programme and related Pre-school Education activities, apart, non-testing of weaning food resulted in supply of weaning food short of nutrient and energy requirements to the beneficiaries, it said.
The report noted that monitoring and review committee meetings were not conducted and there was a shortfall in supervision by ICDS functionaries. “A robust and user-friendly grievance redressal system was lacking in the state,” the report said. PTI
