The country’s apex food regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has decided to support the creation of a nation-wide network of consumer organisations for food safety and nutrition (NetCOFaN). The decision was taken at a recent workshop at New Delhi along with representatives of over eighty (80) voluntary consumer organizations(VCOs). The VCOs decided to create this network with the help of the FSSAI and consumers can now get food tested through these consumer organizations. FSSAI decided to support the VCOs network as testing food through them would earn consumer trust.
This network will initially work in three specific areas
1) awareness and training
2) mobilization of small and petty food businesses for various schemes
3) food testing and surveillance.
FSSAI has decided to authorize credible voluntary consumer organizations (VCOs) to assist consumers in getting food testing done. Also, the food safety law provides for reimbursement of testing fees if a consumer sample fails. This provision has however, never been used due to some practical difficulties. With a view to address these difficulties, reimbursement of testing fees in such cases would be made,even if the consumer sample does not fail.
Pushpa Girimaji, an expert on consumer issues, who was present at the workshop, said ‘consumer organizations can play a vital role in ensuring food safety in the country.’ She added that ‘creation of network would help to build synergies amongst them and is an innovative way for the FSSAI to reach out to the consumers across the country’.
FSSAI has large volume of high-quality content on food safety and nutrition. The VCOs will use this content for awareness and training programmes by translating and adapting it to the local conditions as they have ground level connect. On-ground presence of VCOs will help reach the messages to local areas across the country. Evidence based point system has been put in place to monitor work of VCOs and they would be provided token funding based on activities to ensure sustainability and continuity.
Support of VCOs will also help the FSSAI to mobilize small and petty food businesses to participate in hygiene rating, cluster certification and food safety training and certification (FoSTaC) programmes. Supported by the FSSAI, VCOs can play an important role in food testing and surveillance activities. VCOs will be provided ‘Food Safety Magic Box’ that has over 100 do-it-yourself tests for common adulterants and kit for testing in midday meal scheme.
Initially the FSSAI has partnered with Delhi-based ‘Consumer Voice’ for conducting quality and safety surveillance of milk products in Delhi NCR area. Samples of paneer, khoya and desi ghee and other milk products were picked up recently from Delhi NCR area by volunteers of Consumer Voice with the support of state food safety authorities. These samples were coded by Consumer Voice and tested in FSSAI’s National Food Laboratory at Ghaziabad. The results of this surveillance would be compiled soon and shared with all concerned.Preventive and corrective action would then be initiated jointly by Consumer Voice and the state food authorities.
FSSAI has earlier asked top-200 food companies to appoint nodal persons for consumer grievances. These persons have been trained for effective consumer grievance redressal. FSSAI would now explore ways of using services of VCOs in effective redressal of consumer grievances.
Expressing appreciation for the enthusiastic response of VCOs from across the country their decision to form NetCOFaN, CEO FSSAI Pawan Agarwal said that ‘the VCOs can play a key role in the system to build an atmosphere of trust, transparency and accountability in the area of food safety and nutrition. He expressed the hope that the ‘VCOs would themselves take up this work with full responsibility and accountability and provide last mile connectivity to the consumers.’
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