Kolkata: The state has three laboratories to analyse 2,758 samples collected during the week-long food safety drive, a mammoth task given that all results must be ready within two weeks and with many samples still arriving at the laboratories.Two of the laboratories are in Kolkata — one of them run by KMC and the other, West Bengal Public Health Laboratory on Convent Lane, is under the state health department. The third lab — Regional Food Testing Laboratory — is in Siliguri. The state health department runs the Siliguri lab, too.Officials said the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Act makes it mandatory to submit reports within 14 days of sample collection.According to govt officials, samples were collected only if the food safety inspectors suspected something wrong in the products, but the exact problem could not be determined by visual inspection or with on-the-spot analysis. Explaining one such case, a health department official explained: “During a visit, a team suspected adulteration in edible oil, but it was not possible to come to a conclusion without lab tests. Samples were collected from this establishment.”“On-spot action like destruction of stale food or expired products is a better deterrent. The results of sample analysis become important if the govt wants to take penal action against an errant establishment,” said another state govt official.Two types of samples were collected during the food safety drive — surveillance samples, which were numerous, and regulatory samples. Penal action can be taken only based on regulatory sample results, which are collected under stricter protocol.Officials said the laboratory tests will flag samples that do not conform to FSSAI guidelines. Non-conforming food means food that is “unsafe to eat”, or it is “sub-standard” or “there is defect in labelling”, said a KMC official. “Unsafe food is highly injurious to health. Food containing Metanil Yellow, a dye, is unsafe. Metanil Yellow is carcinogenic and is often used in biryani instead of saffron. It is also used as an illegal adulterant to brighten the appearance of turmeric,” said an official.Substandard food is not injurious to health, but not desirable either. Examples of substandard food would be mixing water in milk, or adding colour in prepared food. “Colours that are allowed can be added to sweets and biscuits, provided they are within permissible limits. But no colour should be added to cooked food,” said a food safety expert.The third category of non-conforming food is when packed food lacks batch number, date of manufacture and expiry, and nutritional information.
