GURGAON: Think before you give in to temptation for sweets this Diwali. Keeping in view the increase in food adulteration around the festival of lights, the Haryana department of food and drug administration recently fined three food outlets for selling sub-standard food items. The move follows the testing of food samples at various popular outlets in Gurgaon by the department.
Recently, officials had collected 30 food samples, including those from different outlets in the various malls and markets. The samples were then sent to Chandigarh for testing. "We recently imposed heavy penalties on three food outlets - Six Ten store in Chakkarpur, an outlet in DT Mega Mall and a Mother Dairy kiosk - for selling sub-standard food. The three outlets have been fined Rs 15,000, Rs 30,000 and Rs 50,000 respectively. Food items including Malai Ka Mixture, aginomoto and several milk products were found to be sub-standard," said K K Sharma, food and safety officer, Gurgaon.
Experts, however, say the department does too little to maintain the quality of food being sold in the city. "Very few hotels and catering companies meet the international food safety standards," said Ajay Grover, former consultant for the 2010 Commonwealth Gamescatering and dining facilities and a Garden Estate resident.
"It has to be ensured that sweet shops have health trade licence, which is granted only when they have proper sewer and water connection besides meeting the prescribed sanitation norms. A number of sweet shops are operating without a licence. The ingredients need to be checked. Khoya could be stale or adulterated with potato paste, rabdi could be adulterated with blotting paper. Harmful colours and chemicals may be used to make sweets look more attractive," said Pavan Choudhary, chairman, CII-Medical Technology Division.
More random checks are being conducted at food outlets across the city.
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