Mid-day meal rice fails quality test

Besides this,two other samples of cooked boiled rice taken from two Ludhiana government schools,which have their own kitchens,were also declared “unsafe” by the Chandigarh lab where the samples were sent for testing.

On May 2,students of New Subhash Nagar Government Middle School and their parents had complained that “unfit” food was being served to students. The rice being served to students was found infested with pest,following which,the district heath team collected samples.

Surprisingly,while the “pest infested rice” passed the test in the Chandigarh lab,the curry sample taken along with it failed and was declared ‘unsafe’ for consumption. The potatoes in the curry were also found “unfit for human consumption”.

While no action was against the contractor,the district health officer (DHO) took 16 samples from various Ludhiana government schools for testing on May 30. Among these,three rice samples failed the test.

When asked why no action has been taken against the contractor for the May 2 incident,DHO Dr Avinash Kumar said: “Two types of samples are taken for tests — for quality check sampling and legal sampling. In legal sampling,we can take legal action if found unsafe and sub-standard. In that case,the DHO has to be present on site during collection of the sample. On May 2,I was not present during sample collection and thus,we took another 16 samples from various schools and kitchens. While no action has been taken,cases will be registered soon.”

According to the Food Safety and Standards Act,if samples are found to be sub standard,people responsible would be warned and asked to pay a fine. In case of samples being declared unsafe,one will not only have to pay a fine but also undergo imprisonment. Also,in case of sub standard samples,a case is registered in the court of ADC. In case of unsafe samples,the court of the chief judicial magistrate is approached.