During the Onam festival season, the Food Safety department will enhance its surveillance at border check-posts. This effort aims to guarantee the quality and safety of milk and dairy products that are transported to Kerala from neighboring states.
In an official statement released on Wednesday, Health Minister Veena George announced that food safety authorities have been instructed to conduct frequent inspections of shipments arriving from neighboring regions. These inspections will be conducted in collaboration with the Department of Dairy Development. Teams of officials have been assigned to maintain continuous monitoring at border check-posts located in Kumily, Parassala, Aryankavu, Meenakshipuram, and Walayar. These inspection efforts are scheduled to persist until August 28th.
As stated in the press release, mobile laboratories have been deployed at the check-posts to conduct testing on milk and dairy items during transportation. These laboratories will gather samples from the tankers and conduct thorough analyses. If any samples are found to contain chemical residues, they will be forwarded to laboratories accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) under the jurisdiction of the Food Safety department. This step is taken to ensure a comprehensive examination of the samples.
Depending on the outcomes of the tests, appropriate measures will be implemented against shipments that breach food safety standards. Additionally, samples of fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, and vegetable oils transported from other states will also be gathered at the check-posts for evaluation.