Madurai: Madurai has got a Food Safety on Wheels, a mobile van to test the quality of food materials and sensitize people on the quality of food they consume.
The vehicle provided by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India will be deployed throughout the southern districts.
Officials from the food safety department said that Tamil Nadu was given two such vehicles, each costing Rs 50 lakh.
Designated officer for food safety, Madurai district, Dr M Somasundaram told TOI that only recently vehicle registration processes was completed.
To start with, the vehicle is being used to check the quality of ‘khova’.
An analyst from the food safety department said that vehicle will soon be put into direct public use.
All basic tests to check the quality of milk, tea powder, oil, ghee, colouring agents and pulses can be done using the facilities available in the vehicle.
People can bring food materials they want to check and get the results in no time.
“The initiative will help to create awareness on quality of products people are consuming. The vehicle will reach out to people in rural areas too,” the official said.
Food safety officials said that legal samples cannot be tested using the facility.
When a food material gets red-flagged during the check, the respective food safety official will be alerted.
Normally, it takes up to Rs 6000 to get a food material tested in a private laboratory, but one can get it tested at a fraction of the cost, they said.