Ensure action against guilty
These days several videos are making it to various social media platforms where the workers, mostly non locals working in various eateries and bakeries are shown using unhygienic means and ways to prepare the products which people consume here not only during the holy month of Ramadhan but rest of the days as well.
The surfacing of these videos had made it clear that most of the eateries and bakeries have not given due consideration towards maintaining the hygiene and cleanliness in their work stations.
The work force placed there too it seems are not well trained to do their job and they have been hired just to save the efforts and money that would have otherwise been required to maintain such levels.
It is a reality that most of the work stations in these bakeries and other outlets are crammed up in dark dingy places which makes it unhygienic right from the very onset. This mindset among the eateries and bakery owners needs to be changed and the administration needs to take up these issues on priority.
The preparation of food items needs to be organized in the commercial sector as some harsh laws need to be put in place over the preparations and availability of space for such activities.
We in Kashmir have taken things for granted and same stands true for those places or business units which are into commercial activity like manufacturing of food items. These units have escaped the scrutiny of law and most of the places across the UT are strewn with handcarts and small food outlets which have never been examined for various loopholes.
This being the reason that the industry has thrived as the quantity of food that is required by people for consumption has witnessed an increased demand and people associated with the trade hire mere labourers to prepare food and work in these outlets.
The hiring of untrained staff minimizes the spending cost for the owner who also ignores even the basics by not arranging for good hygienic work stations and other means of preparing these eatables.
The untrained staff takes things for granted and even use various harmful products while preparing these foods and they in the long run lead to serious complications for those who consume them.
The use of harmful coloring agents, preservatives and various detrimental fats is becoming the order of the day and there is hardly any mechanism in place to check these violations.
The videos which surfaced the other day did get some attention towards the issue and the administration also acted by destroying the food products prepared but these cosmetic measures cannot address these serious violations.
The government should act and strictly implement all the laws that are available in the book to ensure for the safety and health of the common man here.
KV Network
