Chennai: The food safety department collected more than 16 crore in fines over the past three years from vendors who pack hot food in polythene bags, in violation of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, said health minister Ma Subramanian on Saturday.
At an awareness programme organised by the food safety department for street food vendors, Subramanian said the department organised more than 3,046 awareness camps to explain how heat can cause harmful chemicals to leach from plastic into food, leading to several short-term and long-term health problems. “Yet, 11,025 shops were found to be repeatedly using plastic bags. We are also advising vendors not to sell food wrapped in newspapers, as the dye can contaminate food,” he said.
Nearly 2000 street food vendors gathered for the awareness and free health screening programme. The minister listed other violations such as labelling errors, sale of banned items such as gutka and pan masala, reusing cooking oil and use of poor-quality ingredients.
The food safety department, which issued more than 7 lakh licences, has been organising training programmes for street food vendors to create awareness on sourcing raw materials, use of clean water, sanitation and cooking.
