Eateries yet to instal adulteration test kits

The Delhi government’s plan to introduce easy-to-use kits to check food samples for adulteration at eateries and homes has failed to take off as no company seems interested in making them.

No company which could put together the sample test kits came forward, a senior Food Safety Department official said. “The Central Procurement Agency puts out the tenders for all projects. The department is now planning to float fresh tenders for companies to come forward and execute the project,” the official said.

Roll out kits

The department had earlier planned to roll out one lakh test kits for individual households and owners of eateries.

On several occasions, food chains and local sweet shops have complained to the department that they cannot trace the suppliers of substandard items which go into their products.

With such kits they would be able to detect adulterated supplies. The government was planning to emulate the model of Gujarat Food and Drug Control Department after studying the food safety standards in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

The planned test kits would typically contain five to seven bottles of chemicals with written instructions on how to use them.

Range of products

The department had hoped that the test kits would cover a range of products, including milk, ghee, edible oil, iodised salt, vinegar, sweets, sherbets, tea, saffron, mustard seed, chana dal, besan, rice, wheat, sugar and pepper.

“In case no company comes forward, the department may consider assembling such kits in the long run,” said the official.

Training street vendors

The Food Safety Department recently trained street vendors to increase their awareness on hygiene and improve their entrepreneurship skills.

Around 20,000 vendors participated in the assessment conducted by the department. Sixty-eight vendors failed to pass the test.

 The others will be handed over certificates by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurshipas well , said the official adressing the media people.

“Their bank accounts are being linked with their Aadhaar cards so that they can be
provided with the cash incentives,” the official added.