Meerut: As city residents relish sweets and cakes in the New Year, the food safety and standard department's (FSSD) anti-adulteration drive is in full swing. The department has already sent 30 suspicious samples to a food testing laboratory in Lucknow in the last week.
The drive, which started on December 24, is set to go on till January 5. "The food department team is conducting regular checks by sending suspicious food items to the laboratory for testing. If any sub-standard food item is found, the person will be dealt with as per rules," said VK Verma, designated officer, FSSD.
Even though there is a laboratory in Meerut, on the Chaudhary Charan Singh University (CCSU) campus, the samples were sent to a lab in Lucknow to avoid any manipulation.
"The food items are preserved and sent to Lucknow . The result reaches us within 20 days of the courier being sent," said J.P Singh, chief food safety officer.
The food department is focusing on milk products, cooking oil, spices and artificial colouring in food. Field visits and sample testing will be intensified this week and violators will be booked under the Food Safety and Standards Act (2006).
Some city residents have already fallen prey to adulterated food. "I got Christmas cake from a friend which was purchased from a city bakery. I suffered from food poisoning after consuming the cake. Since then, I have not had any sweets from outside," said Garv Gupta, a city resident.
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