Nagaland can no longer be dustbin for adulterated food products, says Kikheto Sema

KOHIMA— People give more importance to material things than the food that is needed for a good health, lamented Commissioner of Food Safety, Y Kikheto Sema, who is also the commissioner and secretary of Health and Family Welfare department.

Speaking on the occasion of World Food Safety Day in Kohima, Sema highlighted how food items are being sold in unhygienic places, while things that people don’t consume are kept in air-conditioned rooms for sale.

“Clothes, buildings, vehicles are also important but food is more important,” he said. “We eat food and drink water but not other things; good food and water save lives.”

He informed that about two million people in India die due contaminated food and water every year, and about 200 diseases ranging from diarrhea to cancer are caused by unsafe food.

Food safety has a direct impact on health and there can’t be food security without it, he said.

The official said that Nagaland can no longer be a “dustbin” for scores of adulterated food items and sub-standard food products which are coming from across the border.

“We don’t know what type of food is coming from the international border,” he said, adding that several such items do not even have manufacturing and expiry dates.

By virtue of being untouched by the Green Revolution, he said whatever is produced in Nagaland is natural and organic by default. He urged the people to grow their own food, eat their own produce and live a healthy and long life besides boosting the state’s economy.

Everyone should be able to enjoy food that meets high standards, safe and good for health, he added.

Seeks Centre’s help for food laboratories

The Commissioner of Food Safety said that he had requested the Centre during an in event in Delhi last month to provide five basic food laboratories and five Modified Food Safety On Wheels (MFSW) along with adequate manpower.

Asserting that the state has only one food lab in paramedical in Kohima, he said the department would ensure food safety, be it from across the border or local if provided with the required facilities.

He said they would launch three mobile food testing vehicles soon, apart from one they received six years ago, after which they would inspect markets, hotels, vegetable shops etc. to check the quality of food.

As far as the food testing is concerned, we will leave no stone unturned, he said while urging the civil societies, NGOs, churches, etc., to co-operate while carrying out the exercise.”We will be there in the markets, schools, hotels etc.,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, Dr. John Kemp, State Programme Officer (Food Safety), Health and Family Welfare department, highlighted how diseases caused by food contamination affect children under the age of five.