Health department raids Jamshedpur sweets shops ahead of Diwali

Seizes suspected adulterated food items

Jamshedpur, Oct. 17 : With Diwali a few hours away, the district health department has embarked on a special drive to check the quality of sweets sold at various stalls across the city.

State health department’s food and safety wing on Tuesday conducted raids at four sweet shops and workshop at Sakchi and Jugsalai, keeping in view supplying of adulterated sweetmeats during the festival of Diwali.

The shops which were raided at Sakchi include Gokul Sweat Shop on Medicine Line and a `khowa’ wholesale shop on Tank Road. The team of food and safety wing raided at the workshop of Gangaur Sweets and ChhappanBhog in Jugsalai.

Revealing about the raids, Dr GulabLakra, food safety officer who led a two member team said that they had first gone over to the Tin Shed on Tank Road at Sakchi where there were four wholesale Khowa suppliers.

“We have been receiving complaints of food adulteration from theseunits and have collected samples which would be sent to food testinglaboratory at Ranchi today evening,” he said.

Lakra further added: “We had to conduct raid and take samples of Khowa from all these four shops, but as we started taking samples of the khowa and completing at one the shop, the owners of remaining three shops fled, having downed their shutters.”

“At the Gokul Sweat Shop we collected the samples of KajuBarfi, and BesanLadoo. At Jugsalai also we took the samples of KajuBarfi, BesanLadoo and Chhana-based sweets from the workshops of Gangaur Sweets and ChhapanBhog,” said the food safety officer.

The officer added that samples were being collected mainly to checkadulteration and use of non-permitted colours. “Samples will be sentto the laboratory and based on its report action will be taken,” they added.

Use of harmful synthetic colours, including dyes were not permitted.But small manufacturers use the banned items just to give more colourto the sweets so as to make it attractive, officials said.

Most of the sweets manufactured in the district were from theunorganised sector — houses or group of people joining together tomake a fast buck.

Actions against the sweet manufacturer, after lab report would beinitiated as per Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 (revised in 2012).