KOLKATA: A Kolkata Municipal Corporation KMC ) team of food inspectors are getting trained in checking quality of vegetables, fruits and cooked food in city’s markets and restaurants. The only difference from the routine drive against food adulteration is that the civic food inspectors will be seated in a mobile food testing laboratory and reach the areas of their target.The analyst in the mobile laboratory will be testing the foodstuff on the spot and bring out the results. The KMC health department has already received one such mobile laboratory and three more such vans will join the civic body’s campaign against food adulteration.“We will start our campaign against food adulteration with help from these mobile vans from next month. Now we are in the process of collecting data about a section of unscrupulous businessmen cheating people with adulterated foodstuff, spices or even milk,” said a KMC health department official.The KMC health department has decided to upgrade the laboratory adding facilities for some tests which need precision, said a KMC official.A KMC health department official on Tuesday said that food inspectors are now undergoing a training session under a senior laboratory analyst. “Once the training is complete, the inspectors will be out on the streets and move across the city. We hope to reach out to more markets than what is covered by the inspectors on foot,” said a KMC health department official.According to a KMC official, the primary target of the mobile food testing laboratory will be food items of daily necessity. “Our mobile food testing vans will be stationed at city’s vegetable and fruit markets. These vans will also be positioned near the milk booths or near confectionery stores to take fresh samples and test those on spot. This will create an awareness among the traders as well as the buyers about the quality of the food or milk being sold at city’s designated markets,” a civic official said.Apart from collecting samples on their own, the KMC food inspectors will accept samples of raw vegetables, milk, fruits, spices or cooked food items bought from restaurants and get those tested in the mobile laboratory. “We will accept samples of food items from the buyers, get those tested instantly and hand them over a test result,” a KMC health department official said.

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