Festivities round the corner: FSDA starts drive against ‘adulterated’ cakes

Meerut: With Christmas and New Year just around the corner, the Food Safety and Drugs Administration (FSDA) began its drive against “adulterated” cakes, sweets and other items that are sold during the festive time, on Sunday. Four teams with three members each will conduct surprise inspections at shops in rural and urban areas to check adulteration and the sale of stale items in the market.

“Four teams with three members each have been formed. These teams will conduct regular checks by sending suspicious food items to the Lucknow laboratory for testing. In most cases, action will be taken only after the laboratory results confirm adulteration. However, if the team finds any food item that appears to be sub-standard or unsafe, action will be taken accordingly,” said Archana Dheeran, designated food officer, Meerut.

The teams will keep a close eye on milk, milk-made products, cakes, Christmas treats, other sweets and bakery products, Dheeran said.

“The samples of suspicious food items will be sent to Lucknow’s food testing lab to avoid any manipulation at the city-based lab. However, if the food items look too suspicious, they will be sent to the city lab only and an immediate report will be sought. Sample reports from the city lab take only 48 hours and action can be taken soon after,” said Dheeran.

FSDA authorities said that customers can anonymously file complaints related to food adulteration.

If a city resident is apprehensive of a certain food item that he or she has purchased, then they can send it for testing to the food department personally by depositing a fee of Rs 1,000. If found adulterated, a complaint can be filed on the condition of anonymity.

Notices slapped on 1,000 eateries

Thiruvananthapuram: The food safety directorate has cancelled licences of 17 eateries and issued improvement notices to another 1,275 outlets as part of a statewide inspection.

The improvement notices issued by the food safety special squads to improve the conditions in which food was manufactured and distributed.

The inspection was held in four phases in 3,683 eateries across all districts, beginning on December 10. A total of 184 samples suspected to be of sub-standard quality or adulterated were collected and sent to analytical laboratories in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode. A compounding fee of Rs 27.99 lakh was levied from the eateries that were found to be violating food safety norms.

The special squads formed to curb distribution and sale of adulterated coconut oil seized 18,302 litres of coconut oil banned brands and 2,460 litres of adulterated coconut oil from Thrissur. The squads also seized 50 litres of banned coconut oil brands from Kollam and 15 packets from Alappuzha.

Food safety commissioner had constituted 38 special squads to ensure food safety standards in bakeries, cake/wine production centres, distribution centres of bakery products during Christmas and New year as per the directive of the state government.

Kolkata bakers accused of unhygienic methods, to face regulation this Christmas season

The officials have been inspecting the factories which are involved with baking to check whether the bakeries are maintaining the required hygiene and that notices were being issued to those bakeries at fault to improve their standards.

Nahoum's is one of the oldest and the iconic Jewish bakeries in the city. 

HIGHLIGHTS

The city is known for its age-old bakeries which have been running since the British India

Deputy Mayor Atin Ghosh said they have collected 17 samples of fresh cake and bread loaves from the stores

KMC has instructed the bakeries not to compromise with the quality of the products

With Christmas and the New Year right round the corner, the bakeries in Kolkata are facing the toughest time in recent history even during the best selling season.

Kolkata, which is famous for its traditional Bengali sweets, is also known for its age-old bakeries which have been running since the British ruled over India.

With the upcoming festivities, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has geared up to see that the people of the city don't fall sick.

Recently, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Health Department inspected some of the city's well-known bakeries including the iconic Flury's and the Kookie Jar.

Deputy Mayor Atin Ghosh said they collected 17 samples of fresh cake and bread loaves from these stores.

He explained that his team of officials has been inspecting the factories which are involved with baking to check whether the bakeries are maintaining the required hygiene and that notices were being issued to those bakeries at fault to improve their standards.

Nahoum's, which is one of the oldest and the iconic Jewish bakeries in the city, received a notice from the officials for the same after they were inspected ahead of the Christmas.

The deputy Mayor said, "They need to follow the law or else a case will be fined against them and they will be jailed too."

"Since then, Nahoum's hygienic condition is much better today," he added.

During the inspection, the officials said, "We visited many cake shops in the city including Nahoum's, Kathleen, and some other cake shops. We found that the cake mixing was being done without any gloves and no hand sanitizer was used before the mixing."

The KMC has instructed the bakeries to not compromise with the quality of the products, to maintain the hygiene, and improve the working condition in the factories.

If they fail to follow the instructions, they will be charged under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006.

More than 10 lakh people are associated with the business with 4,000 bakeries across the state producing tonnes of cakes during the Christmas season.

Idris Ali, All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP and Secretary of Joint Action Committee of West Bengal Bakers Associations said that the industry was going through tough a time and sudden regulations would add to the difficulties.

He said, "Bakery industry is facing difficulties due to GST. We pay 18% GST on cakes and biscuits. The linesmen selling cakes and bakeries bring the revenue in coins in thousands and lakhs. But when we take these coins to the bank, they refuse to take them which is causing us too many difficulties."

Adding that the recent raid has shown that some baker do not follow the baking process and do not maintain the hygiene, he said, "I request the bakery owners to follow the rules strictly and maintain the hygiene."

Talking about maintaining fair prices, Idris Ali said, "These goods and bakeries produced are not just for the rich but also the poor. So, we must take care of the prices and weight of the bakeries we sell. We must not cheat the common people."