Jaipur: From peas to pulses and black pepper to almonds – authorities have come across adulterated and sub-standard food items during an ongoing anti-adulteration drive. In the series, health department’s food safety wing destroyed 500 kg of paneer, suspecting it to be adulterated, in Mansarovar area on Saturday. These food items were being supplied to several shops across the city.
Health department officials said that the paneer was brought to Jaipur from Kishangarh Bas of Alwar district. The officials said that in the initial investigation, it was found that the paneer was produced by using cooking oil. However, the health department officials had to call Shipra Path police when the owner of the firm allegedly started creating chaos.
The drive continued for six hours at the firm. The health department officials collected two samples of paneer and sent it for laboratory testing. The health department officials said that the adulterated and sub-standard food items they have seized during their drive against adulteration in the city in past 10 days, have brought out shocking results.
“Use of synthetic colour as bleaching agent for giving a fresh look to green peas, almonds, black pepper and pulses have been found during the drive. It was being sold in the market. These items are cheaper and mostly sold to hotels and restaurants,” said a health department official.
Frequent consumption of food items with synthetic colours has adverse effect on the health of the people. “If a person consumes such items for longer periods, it may cause ulcer and it may also act as a carcinogenic substance if eaten for a long time,” the official said.
Synthetic colour up to 100 parts per million (PPM) is allowed, which is a negligible amount. “But, we have found in the past, that those accused of adulteration were using higher amounts of synthetic colour, beyond the permitted limit,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment