Aug 4, 2017
Adulteration racket busted
Crackdown: Task force police and food safety authorities check the stocks at a medical store in One town on Thursday.
Warehouse, unit seized; owners arrested
Sleuths of the Commissioner’s Task Force along with Food Safety Department officials raided two units and seized huge stocks of adulterated glucose and papads in the city on Thursday. The traders were taken into custody by the police and the samples of glucose and papads were collected by the food safety officials for laboratory tests.
Acting on tip-off, officials raided a warehouse of Swastik Products and Anjaneya Medicals near the One Town fish market and found 27 bags of glucose and a large number of small paper boxes printed with labels of popular brands in the market. Outdated and local-made medicines were also seized.
Dangerous mix
Officials found that the owners have been repacking the glucose they bought at wholesale price into branded sachets and paper boxes and selling them to medical shops and grocery stores in the city.
“Suspecting the presence of rice starch in the powder, we collected the samples and sent them to the lab,” said Assistant Food controller G. Purnachandra Rao.
‘Hazardous papad’
Later, the teams raided a papad manufacturing company at Radha Nagar in the Payakapuram area and found that owner did not have any permission.
“The premises was unhygienic. Also, the manufacturers were using poor quality black gram powder and sodium carbonate to make papads boil quickly and easily. The chemical substance is hazardous to health,” he added. The owners of the units were arrested and the units shut down.
FDA shuts down two canteens at Mapusa, Assagao
Mapusa: The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) on Thursday ordered the closure of the canteen at a design and technology institute at Assagao after it was found to be operating under unhygienic conditions.
Rajiv Korde, senior food safety officer said the inspection carried out by FDA officials revealed the canteen, that was catering to around 600 students, didn't possess a food licence.
The principal of the college assured to comply with FDA's order in the interest of the students, he said.
According to University Grants Comission (UGC), canteens and other food establishments in affiliated colleges must adhere to the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, including a mandatory food licence.
In another inspection carried out on Thursday, FDA officials also ordered the shut down of a canteen at Kadamba bus stand at Mapusa. During an inspection two months ago, officials had discovered that the canteen flouted several norms. The restaurant didn't install a water filter, dustbins were found overflowing and utensils were being washed with reused water. The eatery reeked of foul odour owing to the overflowing soakpit.
The canteen contractor Mahesh Narvekar, who was directed to halt all activities, claimed that he has placed his grievances before Kadamaba Transport Corporation Limited (KTCL) to undertake repairs works of the canteen.
Salim Veljee, FDA director confirmed that two cases have been booked.
The inspection team comprised senior food safety officer (FSO) Rajiv Korde and other members including FSO Flavia D'souza, Madhav Kavlekar, Atul Dessai, Shruti Pilarnekar, and Pradeep Parsekar.
210 kg food in 46 sweet shops destroyed
Vadodara: Food safety officers of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) checked shops selling sweets and savouries in different parts of the city on Thursday. The teams destroyed a large quantity of food items and collected samples for testing.
The officers have gone on an offence to test sweets and other food items in wake of the ensuing Rakshabandhan festival. The teams checked 46 shops and manufacturing facilities in Alkapuri, Akota, Pandya Bridge, Gorwa, Subhanpura and Sayajigunj areas.
The teams destroyed 210 kg of food items including raw material that was not found fit for consumption. Notices were issued to nine establishments and others were given warnings to maintain hygienic conditions. The drive is expected to continue for the next couple of days, officials said.
AMC raids find animal ingredients in farsan
Ahmedabad: If you plan to buy farsan and sweets for the month of Shravan, beware. You may end up eating 'non-vegetarian' items, as the flying squad officials of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on Thursday, found worms in gram flour used to make farsan and sweets.
AMC officials raided sweet and farsan stores across the city on Wednesday and Thursday and 194 notices were issued to shops violating the norms of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Act.
Standard violations such as vanaspati used in ghee, substandard oil, old flour infected with worms and insects were unearthed by civic body officials.
Suspicious food samples were also collected from 37 such shops in Navrangpura, Satellite, Anandnagar Road, Nikol, Naroda, Naranpura, Stadium Road, Paldi, Sabarmati and Ghodasar among others. These samples have been sent to the public health laboratory for testing.
AMC officials also levied administrative charges of Rs 36,500 on companies violating FSSAI norms. "We found violations in packaging norms, where batch numbers, packaging date, use-by dates and even the list of ingredients were missing from packets," said Rakesh Gamit, food safety officer, AMC.
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