Cuttack: A minibus, allocated to the state by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, is in the city to test food samples and create awareness against adulteration at marketplaces.

The bus named Food Safety on Wheels is equipped with laboratory apparatuses.

The city's food safety officer P.K. Pradhan said: "It's a mobile laboratory to curb adulteration by facilitating on the spot food testing and generating awareness against adulteration in the marketplaces."

Introduced by the authority in 2016-17, the one-of-its-kind mobile food-testing laboratory, which costs around Rs 36 lakh, is equipped with gadgets such as milk analyser, hot air oven, hot plate, mixer grinder, digital weighing scale, air conditioner, besides test equipment.

The food safety division under the state health department had received the mobile laboratory in March and appointed a laboratory technician, an assistant, a helper and a driver, to man the van. The central food safety watchdog had also sanctioned Rs 5 lakh as operational cost for a period of three years. The state government will bear the maintenance and transport expenses.

Pradhan said the mobile laboratory had since Friday picked up samples from restaurants, hotels, sweets kiosks and roadside eateries at College Square, Ranihat and Manglabag, including those outside the SCB campus both on its eastern and western sides.

"During inspection of 40 such food units, samples were collected from 20 and tested in the laboratory. Of them, food samples from five were found to be substandard in quality," Pradhan said.

As a follow-up measure, the city health officer is expected to issue notices to the five food vendors to improve the quality of their food giving them a time of five to six days. If there is no development within the stipulated time, there is provision for the health officer, who is the designated authority under the Food Safety Act, to impose penalty and initiate criminal proceedings against them, he said.

"The collection of samples and testing were followed by chalking out with the health officer programme to use the van that comes with an LCD set and microphone to create awareness among the people at large congregations and schools about food adulteration. The idea is to educate consumers in various aspects of food safety and common hygienic practices."