The Health department has directed its officials as well as the Food Safety officials to conduct Statewide inspections to check the authenticity of the health cards that are issued to food handlers in hotels, catering units and other food business operations.

The directive has been issued by the Health department following the suspicion that fake health certificates were issued in bulk from a laboratory to a catering unit in Pathanamthitta, according to a release on Thursday.

The Health department has made it clear that the licences of food business operations will be suspended if the institution’s food handlers do not have the health cards or are in possession of fake health cards.

Warns doctors

It has also warned doctors that they stand to lose their licence for medical practice if they are found to be issuing the health cards without the mandatory physical examination of the person concerned.

The State had made it mandatory that all food handlers working in food business operations should have a health card, as stipulated under the Food Safety and Standards Authority(FSSA) Act. The government had also made Typhoid vaccine available through Karunya pharmacies at much lower rates for all food handlers going in for the health card.

It is important that those handling food in restaurants and catering units undergo proper medical examination to get the health card. This is to ensure that those handling food do not have any bacterial or viral infections, which may be transmitted to others through food.

The Health department insists on proper medical examination of food handlers before issuance of the health cards in order to ensure that these persons do not have any infectious diseases, or skin wounds or infections.

Valid for a year

A medical practitioner should examine the person physically and ensure that they do not have any apparent infections or skin diseases and that they have taken the mandated vaccines. Blood examination should be conducted to check for any infectious diseases. The medical certificate should have the signature and the seal of the doctor conducting the examination and the certificate will be valid for a year.

As per the FSSA Act, these medical certificates of food handlers in the organisation should be kept in safe custody at their respective workplaces.