Raid on snacks and fruits stalls

No action taken against any trader 

An official from the Food Safety Department destroying a beverage at thenew bus stand in Palayamkottai on Tuesday 

Food Safety Department officials, led by Designated Officer M. Karunakaran, raided a few shops in the new bus stand here on Tuesday.

But their conduct seemed to be a mockery of the exercise. For example, though the quality of cooking oil used by most of the traders in Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai for preparing snacks such as ‘vada,’ ‘samosa’ and ‘bhajji’ was poor, no action was taken either to seize the snacks or register a case against the traders who sell these snacks. Even if the oil turns unfit for consumption due to repeated use, the traders add a small quantity of fresh oil and use it.

But only a few of them faced the wrath of the official machinery on Tuesday.

When the drive was on, the team seized a beverage bottle made by a domestic company on May 15, 2014 and destroyed it on the spot saying that the beverage had crossed the date of expiry. When reporters pointed out that the beverage had not crossed the expiry date, the team left the place immediately saying an abrupt “sorry.” The trader had no other option but to accept it.

When one of the officials checked a couple of apples in a fruit stall, he found that chemical coating had been applied to an apple to increase its shelf-life.

But the wax-coated apples were returned to the trader on the spot and were told not to sell these apples any more.

All these contradictory actions were taken during the inspection to strengthen the hotelier’s charge that the raids were conducted with an ulterior motive. Though several truck loads of mangoes were allegedly ripened with calcium carbide stones, no action was taken so far.

The team that conducted “surprise check” in the shops on the first and the second platform of the bus-stand, did not go near the shops on the third and the fourth platforms or restaurants in the terminus.

Owners of 16 sweet stalls in the bus-stand alleged that they were yet to get ‘food licence’ renewed though they had applied for the same long back.

Admitting that the officials had wrongly destroyed the beverage, Dr. Karunakaran said he would soon raid the godowns to seize mangoes ripened by calcium carbide. On the “delay” in giving food safety licence to sweet stalls, he said the owners were yet to furnish hardcopy of application forms.