To ensure hygienic food, Govt spends 482 Cr rupees on food labs development

New Delhi, January 10: Union Health Minister JP Nadda asked states to come forward with the proposals to strengthen the food testing, chairing the first state Health Ministers round table on food safety and nutrition, he said, as many as 45 State labs are to be strengthened. He said, the Centre is providing assistance of 482 crore rupees to states for the purpose.

Speaking on the enforcement of food standards, Nadda said that there should be fairness and transparency in enforcement. “We must safeguard public health by ensuring all food businesses are licensed and follow standards. At the same time, we should be careful that it does not put unnecessary regulatory burden on the food businesses”, he said.

Emphasizing on generating awareness, Nadda said that sensitization is a major area to work for and FSSAI can provide support in this so that people opt for self-regulation.

He further mentioned that the focus should shift from disease and treatment centred healthcare to preventive and promotive healthcare. Moving towards this, the Government has announced transforming 1.5 lakh sub health centres to ‘Health and Wellness’ centres.

Nadda further stated that in a step towards provision of comprehensive primary care, the Government has initiated universal screening of common NCDssuch as diabetes, hypertension and common cancers at the sub-centre and Primary Health Centre.

“This will enable the strengthening of preventive and promotive health, improve patient referral and access to secondary care services, Nadda added.

During the round table, a team of researchers, who have carried out a rapid assessment of economic costs of food borne diseases in India, shared their findings. According to them, food borne diseases impose a huge economic burden on India. As per their estimates, this would amount to as much as 0.5 percent of India’s GDP or about 28 billion USD.