Drive against adulterated food products before festive season

JAIPUR: Adulterated food items like sweets or other milk products spoil the flavour of the festivals. Therefore, the health department will be launching a drive in state to check food adulteration ahead of the festive season.

Health director and state's food commissioner Dr BR Meena said, "We have prepared plans to launch drive against food adulteration."

There are always chances of food adulteration when the demand for certain items goes up and supply is limited, he said.

A health department official said, samples of ghee, oil, mawa, sweets and paneer will be collected and sent to laboratories for quality test.

Also, the officials would keep a tab on supply of milk as its demand increases during Diwali, thus, increasing chances of adulteration. Adulterated or sub-standard food items can cause stomach-related problems, claim health experts.

However, the health department officials claimed that the laws are stricter now for persons involved in adulteration. According to the newly implemented Food Safety and Security Act (2006), unsafe food means an article whose nature, substance or quality is so affected as to render it injurious to health. The person who himself or by any other person on his behalf, manufactures for sale or stores or sells such goods will be liable to penalty of Rs1 lakh to Rs10 lakh and imprisonment ranging from six months to life imprisonment depending upon the injury it causes to the patient.