Food lovers in Bengaluru have reason to worry

The News Minute | February 8, 2015 | 12.13 pm ISTLike many large cities, Bengaluru is a food connoisseur’s paradise, where you can sample cuisine from not just the Kannada heartland, but the whole country and beyond.But the last few months have been marred by instances of people finding things in their food that are not supposed to be there. However, instances of food poisoning in the city have generally not been fatal. This changed when two women died of suspected food poisoning early last Monday morning.These incidents are worrying all the more because the state health department claims to be overburdened with the task of implementing the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, which is responsible for ensuring standards of any establishment that carries out food preparation, storage and sales.No one wants to be responsible for food safetyHealth Minister U T Khader told The News Minute that the department had written to the union health ministry, asking for the burden to be transferred to the Department of Food and Civil Supplies. Khader said that the health department had its own responsibilities to carry out without the additional burden of implementing the Food Safety Act as well.Khader has demanded that the union health ministry set up a separate post of food safety commissioner for the implementation of the act. Under the current system, it the state Health Commissioner, who functions under the Health Department oversees the implementation of the act.The real situationThe Food Safety and Standards Authority in the state admits they are terribly short staffed. And this is definitely a cause of worry.TweetFollow @thenewsminute