the goan I network
CANACONA
The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) began monitoring and inspecting the arrival of vehicles carrying food products, including fish, vegetables and fruits, at the Polem border check post since early Saturday morning.
Acting on a government circular, an FDA team stopped and conducted tests on four of the vehicles carrying fish and all four tests returned negative for the presence of formalin in fish, sources added.
Sources said an FDA team was present at the Polem border check post and sought the assistance of policemen manning the border to stop vehicles and inspect fish-laden vehicles for suspected contamination of fish consignments entering the state.
Some locals then visited the border check post and requested the FDA team to keep a tab on transportation of other food products like vegetables and fruits entering the State.
“The FDA team accepted their request and also monitoring vehicles carrying all consumable items being brought into the state. The team stopped several other vehicles carrying food items like vegetables and fruits,” said the source, adding that the FDA team also collected samples of food products for checks.
Since monitoring of vehicles is being done round the clock, male FDA officers were seen monitoring movement of vehicles carrying food items at night, while the women officers were on duty during the day.
Confirming there had been no untoward incident and no case registered regarding the inspection at the Polem check post, police said the FDA teams conducted formalin tests on fish imports and also took samples of other food items for tests.
It may be recalled that the State government through health department had issued a circular to inspect and check the quality of fish brought from outside the state and authorised only two entry points, Polem (South Goa) and Patradevi (North Goa), for fish laden vehicles.
The police and transport department was asked to extend assistance to FDA teams by stopping the vehicles at the two border check posts. The fisheries department was also asked to make available the government circular to fish traders in Goa, to avoid inconvenience and untoward events.
