Health Minister flags off 4 Mobile Food Safety Vans to prevent food adulteration

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Health Minister flags off 4 Mobile Food Safety Vans to prevent food adulterationJaipur, November 2 Health Minister Dr. Raghu Sharma flagged off four mobile food safety lab vans from his official residence on Tuesday. These vans have been sent to Jodhpur, Ajmer, Kota and Jaipur divisions.Dr Sharma said that at present, 5 food mobile laboratories were made available by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, New Delhi in 2019-2020, which were allotted to Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Bharatpur and Bikaner divisions. Four additional food mobile laboratories are being made available to Ajmer and Kota, as they were not available earlier. He said that an additional van is being made available to each looking at the excessive work in Jodhpur and Jaipur.The Health Minister said that the mobile laboratories running at the divisional level will be provided on demand by the Chief Medical and Health Officer. He said that the estimated cost of a food mobile laboratory is Rs 41 lakh. He said that at present, the arrangement of vehicle driver and lab technician for the mobile laboratories would be done by the respective joint director zone. He said that the main objective of the mobile laboratories is to test the samples of food items on the spot based on surveillance and inform the consumer or seller about the safe or unsafe of the food items.Director Public Health Dr KK Sharma said that the main equipment in the mobile laboratory are Milko Analyser, Digital Refractometer, Digital Multimeter, Autoclave, Rapid Pathogen Detection Kit, Diagnostic Reader, Frying oil monitor etc. Spot analysis of milk, clarified butter (ghee), cottage cheese (paneer), spices and other edible items can be done through these equipment. The test report of these items will be available on spot within 25-30 minutes. He said that tests are under surveillance and if they are found unsafe, misbrand and substandard then action will be taken as per the Act.Additional Director Dr. Ravi Prakash Sharma said that 11 permanent laboratories are already functioning in the State. Adulteration in edible items can be controlled with a total of 20 laboratories including nine mobile vans. Other officers of the department were present on this occasion.&&&&&