GURUGRAM: In a bid to curb the sale of substandard and adulterated food, a checking drive will be conducted by the department of food safety in the district. The officials will focus on shops that are being run without a license from the department.
Sources reveal that in 2014, the department had issued orders that all shops and restaurants cooking, serving and selling eatables must obtain a license from the authorities. Under the Food and Safety Act 2006, it is mandatory for all hotels, restaurants, dhabas, canteens and even the street cafes vendors to be registered with the authorities, following which a license is issued to them. Since then only 2,506 licenses have been issued till date. Notably, the department has even extended the deadlines to apply for the licenses six times in past three years.
A senior official from the department told TOI that there are at least 300 shops and restaurants across Gurugram which still do not license to cook and serve food and beverages. Such places include bakeries, sweet shops, street cafes, tea stalls etc. too. The drive will begin at the end of this month, under which all the shops and restaurants will be checked for the quality of food sold or served at any of these places. At the same time, the officials will check registration and validity of the license. Those found without a valid license, will be penalized, the shops will be sealed till further action and a case will be registered against the owner.
"From now on we will randomly visits the shops and collect the food samples. At the same time, we will also check the registration and license of the place. In case of not having a valid license, a prosecution will be launched against the owner," said Dr KK Sharma, food safety officer, Gurugram.
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