Manipur health department plans to monitor and check the quality of foods imported from outside the state particularly from Myanmar.
Disclosing this, Manipur health and family welfare minister L Jayentakumar during an interaction with media at his official chamber in Imphal on Wednesday said the government is also taking up steps to test the different food items available in the markets through food safety unit.
Supplementing the minister’s statement, the state’s food analyst Ch Sanajaoba also informed that the process to procure new equipments and machines for testing different food items is on the pipeline.
If we place order in the current month for these required equipments, hopefully we can procure such foreign country origin equipments for necessary testing within March, he hoped. The health minister and officials also expressed concern about the report of presence of hazardous items in the food items due to lack of proper testing facilities in the state.
Some of the media persons even suspected the presence of certain preservatives including formalin, a preservative which has the potential to cause cancer, in the imported fish so that it has a fresh feel when it reaches the state.
Manipur is having various health issues including cancer etc. and the reason for getting this tag will surely point things towards the consumption and lifestyle of the populace. Pointing fingers at every food item which people are consuming would not be fair justice.
Listening to the suggestions of integration of some of the line departments for better management of hazardous waste including the bio-medical waste generated in the towns, minister also assured that all possible steps would be taken up to curb health and food safety related issues. Senior health officials were also present on the occasion.