Meerut: Out of the total food samples sent to the food testing laboratory in Lucknow in the last three months, the Food Safety and Drugs Administration (FSDA) in Meerut found 44% of the food samples "unsafe", "substandard" or "violating regulations". A total of 25 samples were sent to the food testing laboratory in Lucknow, out of which as many as 11 samples were found to be unsafe.
These samples were mostly taken before Christmas and during New Year celebrations.
"The food items that were found unsafe for consumption include a pastry from Delicious Bakery in Shastri Nagar and ChamCham mithai from Ram Nath Ladoo Wale in Sadar. While the silver balls on the pastry were made of aluminum, the mithai used a banned colour dye - both of them are unsafe for consumption," said JP Singh, chief food safety officer.
The food items which violated regulations of packaging and labelling include vegetable fat sample- one each from Milan Enterprises (Baraut) and Gau Food products (Aligarh), cooking medium from Kalas Food products (Aligarh), Kaju Gajjak packet from Ram Chandra Deewan Chandra Rewari wala (Meerut Cantt) and Rol Gajjak packet from Ram Chandra Sahai Rewari and Sweet shop (Abulane).
The substandard food items included vegetable oil from Food Products Tata Nagar (Aligarh), edible fat from Tonu Enterprises (Kanpur) and Heeng packets - one each from two shops in Shastri Nagar.
"Now, we will notify all the owners who were producing these food items, after which they can send their items for re-testing at Kolkata laboratory, which is our referral lab. But if those tests send out similar reports, those accused of producing unsafe items can get lifetime imprisonment. Violation of regulations carry a fine of Rs 2 lakh, and those selling substandard products will be fined Rs 5 lakh. These proceedings will happen in a month once we file a case," said Singh.
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