Jun 13, 2013

Food supplements promising rapid body growth fail test

Health authorities to launch legal action against Sangrur shopkeepers
Sangrur, June 12
A large number of powdered food supplements, promising rapid body growth, are being sold in every part of the state. The district health authorities recently collected six samples of such products procured from shops situated at Sunam, Dhuri and Dirba in the district.
However, all the six samples failed to meet norms of the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA) during a laboratory test, conducted by Food Analyst, Punjab.
The laboratory has labelled these products as misleading (packaging of the product contains misleading statements) or substandard or both.
The health authorities maintain that the results of these six samples fall in the category of "failed" samples as per the FSSA.
They will now launch proceedings in the court of Additional Deputy Commissioner-cum-Adjudicating Officer, Sangrur, especially designated under the FSSA. The sellers may be fined up to Rs 10 lakh, if it is proved that the product information is misleading and Rs 5 lakh, if the product is found substandard.
Dr Surinder Singla, District Health Officer, Food Safety, said the quantity of the total stock of body growth products being sold in the district could not be ascertained. He said it was also possible that the products whose samples were collected were fake.
Dr Singla said it had come to their notice that so-called fitness experts and gym trainers had been prescribing such products to youths for rapid body growth.
Dr HS Bali, state nodal officer, Food Safety, said a majority of the samples of body growth food supplements were collected from Sangrur district. He said instructions were being issued to all the district health officers to collect a maximum number of samples of such products from their respective areas.
Meanwhile, Sangrur Civil Surgeon Dr Subodh Gupta said during past five months, a total of 139 food samples had been collected in the district, of which 23 samples had failed the test while the results of 15 others were awaited. 
health hazard
* The Sangrur authorities collected six samples of body grow supplements from shops in Sunam, Dhuri and Dirba towns
* All the samples failed to meet norms of the Food Safety and Standards Act during a test, conducted by Food Analyst
* The laboratory has labelled these products as misleading (packaging of the product contains misleading statements) or substandard or both
* The sellers may be fined up to Rs 10 lakh, if it is proved that the product information is misleading and Rs 5 lakh, if the product is found substandard

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