Tell us a bit about the 10@10 initiative launched by FSSAI?
Each State was asked to volunteer as to which initiatives they wanted to launch to make food safe. Among those that Goa picked were Safe and Nutritious (SNF) food at home, SNF at schools, SNF at workplace, training for vendors and restaurants etc. We will now go from State to State so they adopt these initiatives. And at the national level, they will be rolled out at the Centre in October 2017. We have roped in 50 restaurants and 20 vendors for the campaign. Our strategy is that it should be done at a low cost. All our methods integrate with existing government schemes.
Is Goa the first State and why did you choose it?
Goa fares well in terms of healthcare and being a small State, it can be projected as a model for others to follow. Our effort is to make it a model State as far as safe and nutritious food is concerned. In big States, ministers don’t bother about food safety so if the minister himself has pledged support, it helps.
Shouldn’t the focus be more on quantity of food in addition to safety and nutrition?
National food security is dealt with by consumer affairs ministry. We are trying to persuade that they supply fortified food. Several States are trying to provide fortified atta and oil. The question of enough availability of food is indeed important. But, the fact that we are discussing these issues is important and shows we are moving towards concerns raised by advanced countries.
The issue of food testing and its standards has also been raised!
Food testing is not a perfect science. Recently there was the issue of testing used edible oil. There is no standard procedure to check used oil and we were forced to conduct tests only on fresh oil. We are now devising a technique for testing used oil based on foreign methods.
Are there tests and checks on quality of food items being exported?
Under ministry of commerce, there are agencies that take care of testing products that are exported. Whether these are accepted by importing countries, are issues that need to be addressed. India has globally set benchmarks and this is what importing countries must understand. There must be robust internal systems to better existing standards.
