150kg of spurious desi ghee seized

Ludhiana: Following a tip-off, the food safety team of the district health department conducted a raid at a house in Haibowal here on Friday afternoon, and sealed 10 cartons of desi ghee. During the raid, health officials recovered open bottles of flavoured chemicals for use in the preparation of the seized desi ghee, which was being further sold to an outlet in Amarpura Colony of Field Ganj.

Meanwhile, sources in the health department informed: “150kg (worth approx Rs60,000) of adulterated desi ghee was recovered during an extensive raid by health officials at a house on Friday afternoon. During the raid, the health team found a manufacturer preparing a huge amount of desi ghee in his house by mixing chemicals with harmful flavours.”

Speaking on Friday’s action, district health officer Andesh Kang said: “After receiving several complaints about the adulteration of desi ghee being sold in Field Ganj, the health team carried out a raid at a house and sealed the entire stock of desi ghee being prepared by them. The team has recovered an open bottle of flavoured chemicals from the house, about which health officials have suspicions it might be used in the preparation of desi ghee.”

Samples have been taken by the health officer, and sent to a laboratory for further testing. “We have sealed 10 cartons of 15kg desi ghee during the raid, which was further being sold to a dairy in Field Ganj. If the reports confirm adulteration, then a penalty of approximately Rs13 lakh will be imposed on the manufacturer, and might also result in the shopkeeper losing the licence of his shop, from where the ghee was being sold,” said Kang.

FDA slaps Rs 5 lakh fine on Maganlal Food Products for violating food safety norms​

PUNE: Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials have initiated an adjudication process and slapped a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh on Lonavla-based Maganlal Food Products, the manufacturer of Maganlal’s Chikki, for violating food safety norms. 

After issuing the manufacturer a stop production notice for not adhering to quality standards early in December, the FDA officials have now found that the sample of chikki they had drawn from the outlet at the time of surprise inspection in December, contained synthetic edible colour in excess amount.

The officials have tested the chikki samples at designated government laboratory in Pune. 

“The sample of Maganlal’s strawberry peanut crush chikki was found to contain thrice the prescribed limit of edible synthetic colour. As per the food safety norms, the prescribed limit of the edible colour used in the chikki is 100mg/per kg, whereas the colour used in the drawn sample of chikki was 306.55mg/per kg,” Suresh Deshmulkh, joint commissioner (food), FDA, Pune told TOI. The sample was drawn on December 12.

Owner of Maganlal Food Products Ashok Agarwal said, “We have been serving customers for many years and the edible colour we used was always the best. However, food handlers’ visual observation might have prompted them to add more than the required colour in the chikki product. We have decided not to use any edible colour in our products from now on."

Govt to check unhygienic roadside eateries: CS

PATNA: Chief secretary (CS) Deepak Kumar has said a survey of street food vendors in the city was being conducted in order to rehabilitate them.

“The street food carts and kiosks are mostly unhygienic. We are going to provide them either glass shields or plastic sheets to cover the food items. We may also provide them new carts with covers,” Kumar told this newspaper on Friday.

Street vendors in Patna and other urban areas in the state are supposed to be rehabilitated under the provisions of ‘Bihar State Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and regulation of Trade) Act, 2012’. Sources said the Patna Municipal Corporation has also planned vending zones at around 12 places in the city.

The move to create vending zones has been hailed by many. “Inspection and audit officials from food safety and standards authority of India (FSSAI) regularly pay us a surprise visit to check for adulteration, contamination and preparation of fast food. We have nothing to worry as hygiene is our top priority. FSSAI officials also inspect our kiosk regularly,” said Om Prakash of a popular fast food kiosk at Maurya Lok Complex.

While the survey may not be a matter of concern for the likes of Prakash, it might come as a blow to hawkers who are operating in the street food sector without obtaining a licence from FSSAI.

Durga Das, a bhelpuri vendor near Dak Bungalow road, said such a move is against small and poor vendors whose survival depends on daily sales of local delicacies like chat, bhelpuri and golgappas etc. “My family of six is dependent on my bhelpuri business. If the government wants to rehabilitate us claiming that we sell unhygienic food, we should also be given an alternate source of livelihood,” said Durga.