Serve fresh food in mid-day meals: Shimla DC

Deputy Commissioner Anupam Kashyap today directed that fresh food material should be used in mid-day meals being served to students in the schools.

The meeting of the district-level advisory committee under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 was held under the chairmanship of the DC here. He also directed that instructions must be issued to all schools to use boiled water for drinking purposes.

“If any kind of complaint is found regarding the mid-day meal in any school, strict action will be taken. The field staff must collect samples of the mid-day meal food from schools from time to time,” he directed. He said there were big hotels and restaurants in the entire district, which should also be sampled regularly so that people get the best and fresh food items.

At the meeting, 652 registrations were done from April to June 30 while seven licences were issued. A total of 103 registrations and 12 licences were given in the Shimla Municipal Corporation area alone. Also, 171 samples of milk and other milk products were taken, out of which 131 were from the Municipal Corporation area and 40 from across the district.

All these samples were taken through mobile food testing lab. Apart from this, samples of mid-day meals of nine schools were taken. Apart from this, samples of food items were taken from shops around many schools. Samples were also taken from Public Works Department Headquarters, SJVN Shanan, SBI Kasumpti and other canteens to ensure that safe food is being served.

Himachal Tribune