DINAKARAN NEWS

Administration to keep tab on sweet shops

PATNA: The Patna districtadministration on Saturday decided to act tough against those selling poor quality sweetmeat, namkeens and other confectionary items in various shops across the city.

District magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agarwal said food safety, weight and measures and commercial taxes officials will keep a close eye on quality of sweets being sold in different shops besides taking action against those cheating customers while weighing the products. A magistrate will accompany these officials in course of raid.

The DM said the decision was taken following complaints that several sweetshops were weighing products along with the box. "Since one such box weighs 50gm, the shopkeepers are fooling the customers," Agarwal said.

He added in many high-end shops and malls, there was no option for the consumers to weigh the packaged product. "These shops have been asked to provide weighing machine to the consumers, failing which they will be punished," the DM said.

The team will also check the quality of materials being used in preparing sweets and milk products, such as paneer and khoya. "Use of poor quality oil and harmful colours can pose a threat to the health of people," the DM said.

The DM also urged the people to remain alert and inform the district administration if they come across any shop selling poor quality food products. "People can call on 2219810 or share the information on Facebook page of the district administration," said Agarwal.

The shopkeepers have also been advised to display the rate of various products, inclusive of all taxes, so that a consumer can know beforehand how much he has to pay. All the shops and hotels have been given a one-week time to comply with the order.

Mangoes, papayas turn toxic in Sec 26, shows raid

UT health department cracked down on the use of banned chemical calcium carbide for artifically ripening fruits at wholesale godowns in the Sector 26 grain market on Saturday, carrying out early-morning raids that started from 7am and continued for three hours. By the end of the raids, carried out with the help of the police force and under the supervision of sub-divisional magistrate (east) Tapsya Raghav , the department seized 2.5 tonnes of papaya that had been artifically rippened and found most of the 20 vendors who had been raided, using calcium carbide."We also found packets of ethylene which were used for ripening mangoes. We have sent the samples of it to the laboratory to check whether the chemical is being used in the permissible limits," said Raghav.

The department has since destroyed the papayas.

The SDM said most vendors were found using chemicals to ripen the fruits either in trucks standing behind their shops or in rented godowns. She also said use of calcium carbide for artificial ripening of fruits was not allowed under the Food and Safety Act, 2006, and Rules and Regulations, 2011. Thoughh laws on the use of calcium carbide are strict and even entail 10 years of imprison ment, the harmful chemical -otherwise used by welders -is applied on fruits by vendors without any fear.

When asked if there was a way to stop vendors from using calcium carbide on the fruits, the SDM said it was a grey-colored powder used by welders, so its supply could not be stopped in the market."But we will keep a check on its usage," she said.

The director of the Sector 26 market committee, Subhash Randhawa, said adulterated mangoes were coming from "Madras and China"."The chemical is being applied by suppliers their only.The practice of ripening papayas through carbide has stopped completely here," he added.

Unsafe drinking water cans seized

Cracking the whip on supply of unsafe drinking water, food safety officials have seized 165 unhygienic and unlabelled water cans in the city so far.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India officials inspect bubble-top drinking water cans

Chennai: 

According to officials, with summer hitting its peak and the city facing a water shortage, many unlicensed packaged water manufacturing companies have started exploiting the situation to make a fast buck. 

To check this, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had been inspecting trucks carrying bubble-top water cans.

Speaking to DTNext, R Kathiravan, Designated Officer, FSSAI, Chennai, said that his body had formed four teams to inspect canned water in various parts of the city. “Accordingly, a team of food safety officials near Koyambedu intercepted around 15 vehicles. Most of these cans were found unfit for consumption,” he said. In a particular case, the officials found no labels on 60 cans of water. They confiscated 31 such cans, which were unfit for consumption, Kathiravan said. Moreover, a total of 74 bubble-top water cans had labels, but there was no manufacturing date, he added. 

When asked about the punishment, an official said, “As of now, we are creating awareness. Henceforth, we will file cases against the manufacturing companies and impose fines ranging from two to three lakh.” 

It may be recalled that a few days ago, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) officials had seized a total of 149 cans and 7,181 sachets of drinking water which were unfit for consumption.