Anganwadi food is unsafe, says study

BANGALORE: Supplying food through anganwadis, a solution thought out to tackle malnutrition in the state, might just be aggravating the problem, a recent report has revealed. As many as 34,594 children have been identified as severely malnourished in Karnataka. Food grains supplied to anganwadis to feed these children have been found to be unsafe, substandard and misbranded, a report has said, raising questions over the nutritional value of food provided to women and children. According to the report submitted to the government by the Public Health Institute, as many as 29 of the 287 samples of food grains sent from various anganwadis were certified as 'Unsafe'. Eight samples were substandard and 115 misbranded. The samples were of uncooked food grains supplied to anganwadis in Bangalore Rural, Bangalore Urban, Tumkur, Kolar and Shimoga in 2013. Tur dal, wheat, green gram, rice and moong dal samples were sent by the Mahila Supplementary Production and Training Centre (MSPTC), a group of women's self-help groups, which are working closely with the anganwadis. -TOI