Report

A customer in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, reported that the Food Safety Department delayed filing a complaint for five days about decayed packaged fruit he purchased from a city supermarket. Although he contacted the FSSAI helpline, officials postponed the sample collection process for over five days.

Delay in Sample Collection

The complainant, a resident of Vadavalli-Thondamuthur Road, stated that he bought a packed pineapple chunk for Rs 30 on October 11. “When I opened it, all the chunks in the pack were rotten and there was foul odour. We threw it away.

Before that, I took a photo of it and sent it to the food safety department via WhatsApp and filed a complaint. Even with a clear address, complaint and photo, no response was received. They did not even inform whether the complaint was accepted or not,” he added. He finally received an acknowledgement and complaint reference number on October 16.

Frustrated, he noted, “Facilities like WhatsApp (94440-42322) and app (TN Food Safety Consumer App) were launched so that people can easily complain about the quality of food products. But when there is so much delay in the response, we doubt when the investigation will begin”.

A senior FSSAI officer stated that food product complaints should receive acknowledgement and investigation within 24 hours. “Taking five days to acknowledge the complaint is not possible and we will check whether there is any technical snag in the communication,”  the officer assured.

District food safety officials confirmed that they are currently conducting an inquiry.

Source: The New Indian Express