Food safety: College canteens in Kerala run without license

KOZHIKODE: The state  government, in an order issued in  2014, had  asked anganwadis and hostels and canteens in educational institutions to obtain the licence of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to ensure food safety.  But none has bothered to apply for the same. The recent FSSAI inspection at a few prominent hostels and school- college canteens revealed  low quality and stale food supplied by them which do not possess  FSSAI certification.

According to the officials, the city  has so far registered 19 working women’s and men’s hostels, 11 government-run hostels attached to several government educational institutions and one youth hostel situated near East Hill  in addition to a few unregistered private hostels .  Stale flour, rotten rice and decayed vegetables and fruits and the use of the same oil repeatedly for snacks were detected during inspections in  these centres.

“Hundreds of students and working people depend on these hostels in the city and we have been receiving several complaints on the low- quality food served here,”  said Ms P.K. Aleyamma,  Assistant Commissioner, FSSAI.  “We have urged these institutions without FSSAI licence to obtain it within one month  through online,” she added.

Rubeesa Akbar, an inmate of a prominent  women’s hostel in the city, said,  “when we once tried to put forward the issue before the hostel warden, we were told to vacate the rooms or take  the food that is supplied.  We have to eat  the  sub-standard food which may even contain worms as  finding another hostel here is impossible,” she added.

Nikil Davis, an inmate of a self-financing arts and science college here,  said, “we spend nearly '80 on food every day. However, the food items are stocked up  unhygienically. The dishes are never cleaned properly. We had repeatedly written to the administration about the issue. Many students had also staged a protest last year but no action was  taken,”  he added.