Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) CEO Pawan Agarwal said his organization and the Railways are working in the most systematic manner to ensure absolute food safety for passengers.

“We have appointed executive directors of health, along with additional food safety commissioners to work as per the railway eco-system,” said Agarwal while commenting on complaints filed by passengers over staple pins being found in eatables.

Agarwal further stated that food safety officers have been designated and are being trained to ensure robust functioning of the railways.

“Our standards for food supplements have been collectively assembled by our panels in two to three years and it is a continuously evolving process. If they feel it needs to be changed, the scientific panel is examining. The new standards will be applied from January 1. However, we are hoping before that, all the discussion materialises and we can bring the required changes,” he added.

“Doping substances have been under stress. We are working in tandem with the National Anti-Doping Agency, wherein we have advised them to collect samples for testing for NADA to evaluate,” he added while commenting over collection of drug samples in various states.

The FSSAI has banned the use of staple pins in tea bags from January next year as it can cause serious health hazards, Agarwal said.

As per the FSSAI order, at present, there are two types of tea bags available in the market, namely stapled tea bags and knotted tea bags.