Kathmandu, March 23

The Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DoFTQC) has finally brought its mobile laboratory van into operation after six years of acquiring it. The department finally started utilising the van from Monday.

The European Union had handed over the mobile lab van to the department on the occasion of the Fifth National Food Safety Day in 2013.

Although the department had announced it would operate the van soon after acquiring it, the department was unable to do so for the last six years due to several reasons.

Meanwhile, Sanjeev Kumar Karna, director general of the department, claimed that the DoFTQC had used the van initially for food inspection but it could not give continuity to the van’s operation due to some technical reasons.

“We had used it initially but were not able to give continuity due to some technical reasons,” he said adding, “But now it has come into operation formally and we expect to operate it on a regular basis.”

With the help of the mobile lab van, the department recently inspected several hotels, restaurants and dairy shops inside the Valley.

Similarly, the department also inspected and tested oil, water and milk products. “At present, we have not found any major irregularities during our inspections, however, we have noticed some small issues and directed the concerned enterprises to improve the quality of their products and production area,” he added.

With the help of this van, the department can test food items on the spot and immediately get results on whether the food is edible or not. The mobile van is also expected to speed up the department’s works related to inspection and testing of food.

Karna further added that though the department is doing its best to fulfil its responsibility the weak laws and regulations are encouraging irregularities in food safety. “No matter how hard we try to monitor food safety, weak laws are encouraging malpractices,” he said adding,

“We are still taking action against wrongdoers based on the Food Act, which is five decades old.” Looking at the need to revise the law, the department is currently working on replacing the Food Act 1967 with the Food Safety and Standards Act.

“We have already prepared a draft of the new Food Act and are at present making some corrections to it. We will soon complete it and forward the draft to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, which will in turn table it at the Cabinet for its endorsement,” he added. He ensured that the new act has stricter provisions against the wrongdoers.