Oct 21, 2014

Surprise checks held at sweet shops

TRICHY: Officials from the Food Safety Wing on Monday conducted surprise checks at sweet shops and outlets where homemade foods were sold in city, town panchayats and some rural parts of the district.
Sweets and savouries remain an integral part of Diwali festival. With just a day to go for the festival, the sales of sweets and savouries in the district have gained momentum. Some shops try to sell old and expired stock to unsuspecting customers. Officials have advised people to be careful while buying sweets for the festival.
An official from the Food Safety Wing said, "When it comes to quality, people have to be more cautious in picking the best quality of sweets and savouries, keeping in mind about their health." During the inspection, officials found some shops in the rural parts of the district using colouring agents beyond the prescribed limit.
Sweets, savouries and food items of inferior quality were also found in shops in Lalgudi and Thuraiyur areas.
Officials also seized cool drinks of major companies being sold beyond the expiry date at various shops and destroyed them.
"The excessive colouring agent in sweets was found in some of the shops on the outskirts of the city. Likewise, the expired food items in shops were seized and destroyed. The food safety officers are still engaged in quality check in all the shops across the district," said Dr A Ramakrishnan, designated officer, Food Safety Wing, Trichy.
Officials also took four samples of sweets like jilebi and mysorepa from shops in the city and had sent them to laboratory for quality check. Action will be taken based on the outcome of the lab test.
The labelling on food packets were found missing in some shops. Hence, the chances are high for the sellers to push the old sweets to the customers which could lead to health problems during the festival time.
Officials advise the people to be particular about the quality and the date of manufacture while purchasing food items.
"People should not buy products sold without labels. If they find any shops selling food items and sweets without labels, they should inform food safety officials," said Dr Ramakrishnan.

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