Around 10% food samples in Chandigarh fail quality test

According to the RTI information obtained by city based RTI activist RK Garg, since 2010, in five years, a total 851 samples of different 20 items, including sweets, bakery products, grocery items, were collected.
One in every 10 food items you consume in Chandigarh is adulterated, the data compiled by UT’s food safety and standards authority has found.
In the last five years, around 10% samples of different food items and sweets items collected by UT’s food safety administration failed the quality test. These samples were either adulterated or misbranded by the food safety administration.
Before 2012, department food safety and standards authority was called as Prevention of Food Adulteration Cell.
According to the RTI information obtained by city based RTI activist RK Garg, since 2010, in five years, a total 851 samples of different 20 items, including sweets, bakery products, grocery items, were collected.
Out of 851 samples collected in the last five years, 89 failed the quality test either due to misbranding or adulteration.
Once these samples failed quality, the food safety administration takes the cases to court. Depending on the nature of adulteration, they file civil or criminal cases in the court. According to the information provided by food safety administration, in the last three years, the cell pursued 32 criminal and civil cases in local courts against the defaulters.
In some cases, it also imposed penalties against the defaulters on the spotfor lack of hygiene. Last year the cell collected Rs 1.5 lakh as fine from the defaulters.
It is quite common that campaign against food adulteration picks up during the festival season. IN October, about 16 samples of food items have been collected for testing and the reports from the laboratory are awaited, informed Sukhwinder Singh, designated officer of UT’s department food safety and standards authority.
Three vendors have been barred from selling some particular products by the department.
“Instead of getting hyper active in the festival season, the food safety and standards authority should have a plan for the entire year. The officials must find out that why the conviction is so low in food adulteration cases,” RK Garg, RTI actvist, said.
Advisory
Don’t buy sweets with fleshy colours
Avoid sweets covered with silver foil as in most cases it is actually aluminium