This article is of interest to FBOs also as it outlines the procedure FSO will take in case of an outbreak in the premises of an FBO and FBOs must be aware of this
Foodborne diseases cover a wide spectrum of illnesses and are a growing public health concern. These diseases occur through ingestion of foodstuffs that have been contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms or chemicals.
The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has launched the Integrated Diseases Surveillance Program (IDSP) to detect early warning signals of impending outbreaks and help initiate an effective response in a timely manner through district/ state surveillance officers and rapid response team (RRT).
Both the health and food sectors have a role to play in managing and controlling foodborne disease outbreaks or incidences. Therefore, coordination between Food Safety Officers and District Surveillance Officers (DSOs)/ State Surveillance Officers (SSOs) and Rapid Response Teams is essential as that will help to effectively respond to situations arising out of foodborne disease outbreaks or incidences.
All Food Safety Commissioners (FSCs) of States and UTs are advised to request the Health Secretary to nominate Food Safety Officers in each district as a member of the Rapid Response Team. These Food Safety Officers would be required to undertake the following activities after receiving an alert/ intimation for any foodborne disease incident through IDSP systems
- Collect information related to foodborne disease outbreak/ incidents from DSOs/SSOs
- Examine/ investigate the case in coordination with district/ state surveillance officers and rapid response team as soon as an alert for foodborne disease outbreak/ incident is communicated and
- Conduct site investigations including operational hygiene at implicated premises
- Take appropriate food samples and send to the accredited laboratories for analysis
- Identify potentially implicated food product and assess the severity of the risk taking into account the prevalence of the disease
- Liaise with FBOs of the region to determine whether the implicated product is distributed to other parts of the country or exported to other countries.
Take appropriate and necessary action in consultation with FSCs to ensure that the
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