Health card won't be able to prevent food poisoning

The state's health minister and food safety department woke up only when some people died and many were admitted to hospitals after eating hotel food. Officials have been inspecting hotels and restaurants for more than two weeks. More than 100 establishments have already been closed. Notices were issued to several establishments. However, many people continue to seek treatment after consuming stale and infected food even as these inspections continue to take place. Several people were admitted to hospitals in Paravur after consuming hotel food last Wednesday.

It is surprising to see restaurant operators not feeling bothered to serve safe food to the public despite so many inspections and massive awareness against serving stale food. This is negligence that even endangers people's lives. Such practices should not be tolerated under any circumstances. Restaurant operators will remain this way as long as there are no regular checks on the establishments and steps are taken to punish the culprits. The food safety department must be active always regardless of whether customers end up in hospitals after consuming stale or subpar food.

The government is planning to make health cards mandatory for employees of hotels and food distribution establishments as part of measures to prevent food poisoning. The health minister has also warned that food establishments with employees, who do not have health cards, will be forced to shut down.

Anyone with common sense knows that the staff does not cause food poisoning in hotels. The primary source of food poisoning is substandard food products used in restaurants. Food poisoning is mainly caused by fish and meat products. If their processing and storage are not perfect, the risk of food poisoning is high. During the recent inspections, the food safety officers had found stale meat in several large restaurants. There are many establishments here that regularly supply stale meat. The authorities should first take steps to shut down such establishments that make people fall sick. It seems that there are no regulations or standards for the sale of fish and meat in the state. Most of the meat shops are operating illegally. Even the Food Safety Department cannot say how many meat shops are operating scientifically in the state. It has been decades since the scientifically operated abattoir in Thiruvananthapuram was shut down.

In addition to making health cards mandatory for employees of hotels and other establishments, the authorities must ensure that all establishments involved in the processing and distribution of food products operate with proper standards. The authorities should also conduct inspections regularly to ensure that such establishments are following the standards. Rigorous monitoring mechanisms are also needed to ensure that such inspections do not turn into an arrangement for the officials to receive bribes. The situation where poor employees have to pay money out of their own wages to get a health card should also be avoided. Their respective institutions or the government itself should make arrangements for it.