<p>Hair found in a meal served to the state food minister during a supervisory visit has raised serious food safety concerns regarding the noon meals provided in Kerala government schools. The hair incident is the latest in the spate of cases that question the food hygiene practised while serving the noon meals.</p>.<p>Kerala food minister G R Anil was left red-faced as the meal served to him at the school had a hair in it. He made a surprise visit to a government school in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday as part of the confidence-building measures of his department, where he would partake in a meal along with the students to ensure its quality.</p>.<p>This incident comes close on the heels of students getting food poisoning, and norovirus infection through the meals served at government schools.</p>.<p>Recently, several students in a couple of state-run schools suffered food poisoning suspected to have been caused from the noon meal served at schools. Two primary class students at a Thiruvananthapuram school were found to be infected with norovirus, a highly infectious virus that causes vomiting and diarrhoea, and is caused by eating contaminated food or water.</p>.<p>The noon meal scheme benefits around 20 lakh students in the state. However, the scheme has been rife with troubles such as concerns over the quality of rice supplied to the schools and school authorities’ inability to arrange vegetables and other essential commodities in time for meal prep.</p>.<p>Many schools were forced to seek contributions from local people and organisations in the form of commodities like coconut, oil and vegetables.</p>.<p>According to a Mid-Day Meal circular issued by the state government in October 2021, schools were to get Rs 6 – 8 as per-student allowance for the noon meal, depending on the school’s student strength. However, the schools have been demanding that the rates fixed about 15 years ago should be increased, and that there were always inordinate delays in the payments.</p>
<p>Hair found in a meal served to the state food minister during a supervisory visit has raised serious food safety concerns regarding the noon meals provided in Kerala government schools. The hair incident is the latest in the spate of cases that question the food hygiene practised while serving the noon meals.</p>.<p>Kerala food minister G R Anil was left red-faced as the meal served to him at the school had a hair in it. He made a surprise visit to a government school in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday as part of the confidence-building measures of his department, where he would partake in a meal along with the students to ensure its quality.</p>.<p>This incident comes close on the heels of students getting food poisoning, and norovirus infection through the meals served at government schools.</p>.<p>Recently, several students in a couple of state-run schools suffered food poisoning suspected to have been caused from the noon meal served at schools. Two primary class students at a Thiruvananthapuram school were found to be infected with norovirus, a highly infectious virus that causes vomiting and diarrhoea, and is caused by eating contaminated food or water.</p>.<p>The noon meal scheme benefits around 20 lakh students in the state. However, the scheme has been rife with troubles such as concerns over the quality of rice supplied to the schools and school authorities’ inability to arrange vegetables and other essential commodities in time for meal prep.</p>.<p>Many schools were forced to seek contributions from local people and organisations in the form of commodities like coconut, oil and vegetables.</p>.<p>According to a Mid-Day Meal circular issued by the state government in October 2021, schools were to get Rs 6 – 8 as per-student allowance for the noon meal, depending on the school’s student strength. However, the schools have been demanding that the rates fixed about 15 years ago should be increased, and that there were always inordinate delays in the payments.</p>
