Be careful of what you eat when you are in Howrah. Not even the Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) can assure you of the food quality.

Reason: the civic body does not have a single food inspector.

The post has been lying vacant for the past 12 years, since its inception. As a result, quality-control drives on eateries and roadside vendors are almost non-existent.

Taking advantage of the situation, unrestricted sale of inferior-quality food has peaked in Howrah town, posing a serious threat to the health of residents.

The municipal law says that a food inspector is a must in the civic body. The quality of food sold in the municipal area is judged and standardised by the inspector. But since 1992, the authorities never bothered to appoint an official to scrutinise the quality of the food in Howrah.

Admitting that the key post has been lying vacant for years, Howrah mayor Gopal Mukherjee said: “We have written to the state government to take necessary steps to fill up the post.”

However, the district’s health department records reveal that over the past 12 years, the department had assigned medical officers for this post only on a temporary basis and had, subsequently, withdrawn them as well.

Reiterating that the health department should intervene in the matter immediately, an official said that until the HMC gives the nod, the department cannot appoint a food inspector.

Experts say consumption of unhealthy food may result in dieases like diarrhoea and jaundice. An advanced stage of chronic acidity and stomach ulcers, caused by adulterated and unhygienic food, may even result in death.

Though a survey has not been conducted yet to find out the number of deaths caused by poor-quality food, the official said that ground statistics are worth worrying about.

“In 2002, Howrah witnessed an outbreak of diarrhoea assuming epidemic proportions. The poor quality of drinking water was blamed for the outbreak, but unsafe food was as much a factor,” a senior HMC official admitted.