The state cabinet approved a blanket ban on the manufacture, storage and distribution of all types of gutkha and paan masala which have tobacco and nicotine content due to increased number of oral cancer patients.

Cabinet co-ordination department’s principal secretary N N Pandey said the order would become effective in the entire state soon after publication of a notification.

Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association threatens indefinite strike

Stepping up vigil against the rampant sale of stale food across the State, Food Safety Commissioner for Kerala Biju Prabhakar has said that the intensified drive will continue till the hotels and restaurants comply with the 30-point guidelines issued to ensure the quality of food items sold by them. “We have formed ten squads and at least eight of them will be on the field at any given time after adjusting leaves and holidays of squad members. They will conduct raids everyday in eight towns across the State simultaneously.

The ban on gutkha and pan masala across Maharashtra came into effect from on Friday with the state government issuing a notification in this regard. The notification, which bans the sale and consumption of gutkha and paan masala, will be valid for a year. It will be later extended for another 12 months. The state cabinet had decided on the ban last week.

Figures show that gutkha was one of the major reasons for oral diseases. The monthly sale of gutkha in Maharashtra is estimated to be around Rs 300 crore and the government annually earns more than Rs 100 crore in taxes on it.

Food Safety authorities, district health officials serve closure notices on 36 hotels in district

Different agencies are on an all-out offensive against hotels that do not keep their backyards tidy. On their part, the hoteliers are complaining that they struggle to keep their hearths burning. Food Safety authorities and district health officials served closure notices to 36 hotels in different parts of the district, including eight hotels in the Goshree area alone.

Food Safety officials continued raids of hotels in cities and towns across Kerala State on the second day on Wednesday for detection of low quality food items. Altogether 11 hotels were ordered to be closed and 150 hotels were served notices seeking improvement in quality and standards. The raids covered 211 hotels on Tuesday and 60 hotels on Wednesday (till evening).

The raids come in the wake of the death of a youth in Bangalore allegedly after he consumed ‘shawarma’ from a hotel in Thiruvananthapuram.

Aim is to make food business operators accountable: FSSAI

The food poisoning episodes in the State capital and the shocking revelations from raids conducted across the State might well prove to be the starting point of a much sterner food administration regime in the State along with the rest of the country. The country is all poised for enforcement of the Food and Safety Standards Act 2006 which prescribes science-based standards for various items of food and seeks to regulate the manufacture, storage, sale, etc. so that these are absolutely safe for human consumption

The High Court on Monday ordered issue of notices to the Karnataka and the Union governments in connection with a plea seeking a ban on sale of gutka and other tobacco products in the State.

Hearing a plea filed by the Cancer Patients Aid Association, the Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen directed the State government to file objections by two weeks.

The Congress-led government in Maharashtra will formally take a decision banning production, distribution and consumption of gutka in the state.

JAMMU: All J&K Movement for Peace and Justice today opposed the demand of some organizations that much delayed Food Safety & Standards Act 2006 be kept in abeyance for five years.

Talking to reporters here today Deep Singh a prominent member of the Movement said that any more delay towards the Act will prove suicidal. The issue is of great concern and the illogical demand of some organizations to keep the much delayed Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 for five years is anti people.