Letters: FSSAI, mend your ways

Apropos the editorial, “Dangerous bottled water” the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has been in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Nothing can justify the FSSAI’s mindless reaction to the detection of potassium bromate in several samples of bread by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). It sought to ban the use of the chemical as an additive in bread and other bakery products, but defended its earlier move to permit limited amounts of the same in packaged drinking water. How can it adopt double standards and take such a selective stand on the matter?

One wonders why the CSE had to carry out the FSSAI’s job. Is the latter responsible only for fixing quality standards for food products? Shouldn’t it also carry out frequent random checks to ensure that food safety standards are adhered to by their producers throughout the country? What about making FSSAI officials accountable?

The FSSAI should learn from its dubious past and not take ill-conceived and/or hasty steps on the matter of health and food safety.

S Kumar, New Delhi

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