PANAJI
Now that the fishing ban is on and import of fresh fish from other States expected to spike, the Food and Drugs Administration is planning to conduct surprise checks frequently at fish markets apart from checking the transportation trucks at the border check-posts.
A senior FDA official said their department is fully geared up to shoulder the responsibility and will ensure intense scrutiny of all fish stocks in the markets.
Teams have been formed under the stewardship of Sanjyot and Richard Noronha, who are the designated officers for North Goa and South Goa districts under the FSSAI Act, which will shoulder the responsibility according to the official.
He said, enough supply of kits to test formalin content in fish samples are in stock and any further investigation if needed will be carried out in the in-house laboratory at the FDA headquarters in Bambolim.
Nearly six years ago in July 2018, the practice of adding carcinogenic formalin as a preservative in fish had snowballed into a major public health and political controversy when a senior FDA official Iva Fernandes found samples of fish to be contaminated with the chemical in pre-dawn raids at the Margao wholesale market.
Fernandes was the "designated officer" to ensure food safety in South Goa District at the time and sealed all the fish trucks citing the findings of her on-the-spot tests.
However, the fish import lobby then liaised with the political establishment leading to the release of the trucks. Fernandes also faced retribution and was transferred to an obscure section of the department.
Meanwhile, the fear of fish being contaminated with formalin especially during the 61-day fishing-ban continues to loom large since that controversy in Goa, where the populace is a largely fish-eating one.
