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DFTQC to step up food inspection

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By No Author
KATHMANDU, Sept 4: The Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC) is bringing in mobile inspection van in the second week of September in order to bolster the inspection of the quality of food items in the Kathmandu Valley.



The mobile van, which is valued at Rs 10 million and donated by United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), will have equipments for testing the quality of food items. "The lab in the mobile van will enable us to conduct basic tests and help us find out whether the food is adulterated or substandard," said Pramod Koirala, senior food technologist at DFTQC. [break]



As the lab would be equipped for checking adulterations in edible products and conducting basic antibiotic and pesticide residue tests, water tests and microbiological tests, the department says, it will be able to take immediate action against those found compromising with the food standards.



The van will also be equipped with multimedia, something which will enable the department to impart food safety education to consumers. The van is currently being furnished in Thailand. The four-seater mobile van will be the size of a micro bus and will carry three technicians along with tools for conducting tests.



In order to ensure effectiveness of the quality test operations, five food technicians from the department have already received training from Thailand in monitoring the quality of various food items as well as handling the equipments.



With such inspection facility, DFTQC believes it will be able to control the increasing rate of food adulteration in the market. As per a report released by the department recently, the rate of food adulteration has increased by 18.3 percent over the last one year, compared to 15 percent a year ago.



"Food adulteration rate has grown by almost 20 percent this year, and if we look at the trend of past six years, the rate of selling adulterated and substandard food has more than tripled over the span of six years," said Koirala.



As unscrupulous producers and traders are using latest technologies to deceive unsuspecting consumers, he said, the mobile van would be of great help to the department to deal with the emerging challenges in the surveillance and make the inspection fast and accessible.



DFTQC had earlier decided to introduce the mobile van in April, but it deferred the plan by a few months as effective operations of the mobile van--first of its kind to be introduced in South Asia-called for training to the staff to enhance their capacity.



If the van proved effective, the department plans to introduce more of them outside the valley as well.



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