madurai the madurai district food safety department on friday conducted a novel initiative to promote healthy eating among youngsters it set up food stalls on lady doak college campus where an intercollege cultural festival was being held officials spoke to the participants about safe unsafe and healthy eating methodsthe stalls that were put up broadly classified into unsafe food stall safe and traditional food stall healthy food stall and alternative food stallin the unsafe food stall items like cakes sweets and savouries that were very colourful were put up as the students came to purchase those items food safety officials gave an awareness talk on how eating items in which synthetic colours were used and on how it could increase the risk of cancer eating food items in which high amount of artificial colouring is used is highly unhealthy as students visit this stall and wanted to buy certain snacks we are asking the students themselves to dump such items in the garbage designated officer for district food safety department madurai dr m somasundaram saidthe officials claimed that this initiative was firstofitskind in madurai and that it was done as part of the eat right india campaign more such events would be held in other colleges in the district a food safety officer saidin the safe food stall snack items in which there was no artificial colouring and other traditional items like multigrain kalakala pearl milletbased sweets were displayed in healthy food stall snacks made with banana stem lima bean white chickpeas and others which were low in salt sugar and fat were displayed in the alternative food stalls pearl millet and other healthy grainbased snack items were displayed