Trichy: A raid carried out by the officials of food safety wing in Srirangam, on Thursday, ahead of the Vaikunta Ekadesi, brought to light the usage of substandard tea powders, expiry date-barred cool drinks, rotten fruits, and banned tobacco products in shops around the famous Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam. The seized products were taken by the food safety wing.
Even though surprise raids are not unusual, Thursday's raid had more significance because it was conducted ahead of Vaikunta Ekadesi festival that falls on January 11. All the food safety officers (FSOs) in the district were deployed in the raid. Each official headed a special team and raided the tea stalls, juice shops, hotels and Annadhanam preparation places.
During the raid, officials found the use of sub-standard tea powders at around 20 shops. Besides, they also found expiry date-barred beverages and rotten fruits, gutkha and pan masalas worth Rs 1 lakh. Though the officials verified the quality of the tea powder by tissue paper testing, final results will be out only after the receival of the laboratory confirmation. Talking to TOI about the raid, Dr A Ramakrishanan, the designated officer of the food safety wing, said, "We seized around 15 kg of sub-standard tea powders. But, we can confirm the adulteration level, only after testing them in the laboratory,"
Mixing methanol yellow with tea powder is the most common practice of adulterating tea powders. This will enrich the colour of the tea, which people usually prefer. "Once the shop owners are caught, they try to wash their hands off saying they were unaware of it. But, it is their duty to ensure the quality of the tea powder as it will directly affects the public," he said.
What's more surprising is the fact that even though food safety officials seize such products from shops, the original suppliers and manufacturers is never brought to book. Commenting on this, Dr Ramakrishnan said, "The suppliers change their target to other areas once a raid is conducted in a particular area. We have been seizing such tea powders at regular intervals. However, still we have a lot to do for total eradication."
Yet another truth that came to light during the raid was the exploitation of lakhs of devotees who throng the temple during the festival. "Customers were being given sub-standard food products," said the officials.
On whether the raid would continue during the festival, the food safety wing officials assured that their entire force will be deployed till Sunday to conduct surprise checks in Srirangam.
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