FDA seals kitchen of Canacona sweet mart

Locals accuse an FDA official of corruption; Food inspector says court would be approached if the samples failed tests

CANACONA: Irked over frequent sale of stale and spoilt food items by a sweet mart shop in Canacona, concerned citizens had served an ultimatum to the administration of the taluka to get the FDA officials to inspect the shop for alleged sale of contaminated food items.

Taking heed to the demand, four FDA officials raided two shops owned by Narayan Vaishnav and sealed the kitchen premises for violating FDA norms, as the kitchen was found in an unhygienic condition.

Concerned citizens met the FDA officials in the chamber of mamlatdar, where the locals alleged that the FDA and other authorities were protecting the sweet mart owner, a Rajasthani resident, even after he was found selling stale food products.

They also leveled charges of corruption against a particular official of FDA and took the FDA officials to task over no actions being taken against the owner for violations reported in the past four occasions. 

Later, FDA official Iva Fernandes, assisted by Abel Rodrigues, Amit mandrekar and Zenia Rosario inspected the kitchen premises used by Suraj Sweet Mart for preparing sweets and other food items and found over twenty food safety violations. 

Keeping in view the violations, FDA instructed the sweet mart owner to shut down the kitchen till the violations were rectified. 

Later, the FDA team inspected another two outlets operated by the same owner at Chaudi town and took a few samples, which they suspected were contamination. 

Speaking to the media Fernandes said that the samples would be tested at Bambolim and if the samples failed the food safety standards, they will move the court to seal the premises.