PANAJI: With Diwali around the corner, the food and drugs administration has issued guidelines to sweet manufacturers and vendors, hoping to keep adulterated and poor-quality festival goodies out of the market.
Addressing a meeting of 40 sweet vendors from across Goa, FDA chairperson Salim Veljee warned them against using 'mava', 'khoya' or 'kalakanand' (milk sweets used as a base for other delicacies) transported to Goa without refrigeration. "The vendors were also directed to purchase only properly packed and labeled raw ingredients from licensed FSSAI vendors," added Veljee.
Veljee also recalled a few complaints received by the FDA, about sweets like 'pedha' and 'barfi' that got spoiled the very next day after purchase, revealing the use of stale ingredients . "The vendors were also warned not to indulge in the 're-cycling process' of mixing the stale, unsold sweets into the preparation of fresh sweets, which is the main reason why sweets start getting rancid /sour immediately, emanating a foul smell or changing colour," said Veljee, warning that such cases would be severely dealt with.
The FDA also issued guidelines as to the maximum permissible limit of artificial coloring used in sweets, to safeguard the health of the consumer. The vendors were asked to be vigilant in differentiating the decorative 'silver leaves' from aluminum leaves, which is not permitted under the law.
"This Diwali, our food safety officers will step up surveillance and conduct surprise raids across the state toensure that only high quality products are sold in the market," added Veljee.
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