After A Quantum Jump, Odisha Fails To Retain Its Position In Food Safety

Bhubaneswar: Odisha dropped a few notches to rank eighth among large states in ensuring food safety in 2021-22 after an impressive performance which saw the state moving to the fourth position at the all-India level last year from the 13th rank in 2019-20.

The state failed to retain its position having secured 54.5 of 100 points in the fourth edition of the State Food Safety Index (SFSI) released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday.

The State Food Safety Index (SFSI) measures the performance of states on the basis of five parameters: human resources and institutional data, compliance, food testing facility, training and capacity building and consumer empowerment. The rating is done by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in an effort to galvanize States/UTs to work towards ensuring safe food for citizens.

Odisha was awarded 10.5 points in Human Resources and Institutional data, 11 points in compliance, 15 points in Food testing infrastructure and surveillance, 7 points in training and capacity building and 11 in consumer empowerment.

Notably, large scale adulteration in food items and poor hygiene conditions were found during the crackdown by food safety officials in different parts, especially Cuttack and Bhubaneswar in the last one year. The popular ‘Khao Gali’, the street food court near Ram Mandir in Unit 3 in Bhubaneswar which was declared ‘Clean Street Food Hub’ by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) later year, was also shut down over lack of adequate cleanliness and violation of other civic norms.

The SFSI ranking has been done in three categories, large states, small states and Union territories. Tamil Nadu topped among large states this year, followed by Gujarat and Maharashtra. Among the smaller states, Goa stood first, followed by Manipur and Sikkim. Among the Union Territories, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Chandigarh secured first, second and third ranks.