Officials check on food quality

Close scrutiny:I. Danaraju, Food Safety Officer, inspects a sweet stall on J.N. Street in Puducherry on Wednesday.

Dept. of Food Safety inspect sweet, confectionary shops in Puducherry
Ahead of the Deepavali festival, officials from the Department of Food Safety on Wednesday inspected sweet and confectionary shops to ensure that was no adulteration in food items.
The team, led by I. Danaraju, Food Safety Officer, took over 50 samples of sweets from various outlets across the city and its suburbs to check the quality of raw materials.
Owners were instructed to maintain hygiene and quality as per the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
Officials inspected raw materials that are used in making sweets as well as the final products.
The inspection is aimed at detecting the quality of sweets and whether non-permitted colours are used since there is a spurt in sales during the festive season.
Mr. Danaraju said that some outlets made use of used palm oil with refined oil and used non-permitted colours which are not allowed under the Food Safety and Standards Act. Sweets are also prepared in advance and sold in bulk which could lead to deteriorating in quality. The samples would be tested at the Food and Drugs Testing Laboratory here.
If any adulteration was found, stringent action would be taken under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. Food Safety Officials would continue with the surprise raids on Thursday.
Public can send messages to 94435 36146 about adulteration in sweets, he added.