FDA shuts 17 fast food stalls in Colva Fair

Team Herald 

margao: The Food and Drugs Administration raided all the fast food stalls in the Colva Fair and found all of them unhygienic and in violation of the food safety guidelines. The raid was conducted based on a complaint by local activist Judith Almeida. On Tuesday, a child who had eaten food at one of the stalls suffered from diarrhoea. The parents of the child approached Judith who immediately intimated the FDA.

Most of the fast food stalls sold Gobhi Manchurian, sweet corn and ice golas. The FDA officials observed that they did not have a clean water source. Raw materials such as wheat, masala power etc were kept open and were even kept on the floor. The utensils such as vessels knives were crude and unhygienic. Food was stored in non-food grade plastic bins and crates.

Some of the stalls displayed a temporary FDA licence which they had obtained for the Old Goa fair which was found to be invalid. In one particular stall, the officials found a ring-guard cream tube inside a vessel containing grated cabbage along with a grater. In another stall, the owners were using domestic gas cylinder. Plastic tarpaulin was used a flooring in the kitchens underneath the gas stoves. Even the ice used for ice golas were unhygienic ice.The FDA issued notices for all the food stalls and asked them to shut down. They even shut a shop selling packed food items without any label.The FDA officials approached the police in the Colva police station and instructed them to keep a vigil and ensure that the illegal fast food stalls remain shut.

Interestingly, the Panchayat did not give permission to any of the stalls in the fair. “I had asked under RTI whether Panchayat gave permission for the stalls last year. They said they did not. These people come here from god knows where, set up their stalls illegally, make money at the cost of our local restaurants but nobody is there to stop them. Finally, who suffer? Our local businesses and the customers who eat this unhygienic food and suffer from food poisoning”, said Judith Almeida.