Kerala Makes Food Safety a Priority, Conducts Raids

As many as 1766 food safety raids have been carried out across Kerala and nine shops have been closed for selling adulterated food articles during Onam season, Health Minister V S Sivakumar said.  The drives were conducted as part of 'Operation Ruchi,' the state-wide food safety initiative launched by the Health Department to restrict the use of chemicals and other harmful ingredients in food articles. Sivakumar said the initiative was a big success during Onam season and raids would be continued in the coming days.(Screen What You Eat: How to Spot Adulterated Food)"A total of 1,766 raids have been carried out under the drive during Onam period. Raids are continuing at eateries, vegetable stalls and check posts," he said here.  The minister said the government's efforts to ensure the availability of unadulterated food articles, complying with the food safety standards, during the festival season met with success. He also said Tamil Nadu government co-operated well with the regulations, initiated by Kerala to regulate the inflow of pesticide-ridden vegetables and food products.(Simple Tricks to Remove Pesticides From Fruits and Vegetables)An advanced facility to check pesticide content in vegetables and food products would be launched in the Food Safety laboratories in Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam next week and it would give an additional impetus to the mission, the minister said.