In wake of Diwali and Chhath festival, the State food safety department launched a special inspection of adulterated sweets and other food items across Jharkhand, especially in Ranchi, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur and Bokaro apart from other districts. In the State Capital, the district administration too is carrying out test of food especially at hotels, restaurants, sweet shops and other outlets.
In Ranchi, the food safety team held a massive inspection and conducted on-the-spot tests of suspected sweets in a Mobile Testing Van.
The team collected samples from LalpurChowk and 30 suspected samples of Paneer, Khoya, oil and other edible items from over a dozen restaurants were tested. “In the on-spot test, the quality of Paneer of two restaurants was found to be bad in fixed standard and both the establishments were fined as per Food Safety Standard Act (FSSA),” an official said.
The food safety officer said that to maintain safety, all sweet outlets and restaurants have been strictly directed to mention the date of sweets for use and avoid selling Paneer, Khoya and other sweet items obtained from unknown resources.
A special team has been formed consisting of officials of district administration and food department, which has inspected more than two dozen sweet shops, hotels and restaurants.
Sources said that samples have been collected and have found that many shops were involved in selling substandard and spurious food items.
He warned that action will be taken against such food proprietors if they are found playing with the health of people. A food testing van of the state food testing laboratory and quality analyst accompanied him. Samples are tested on the spot.
It has been found that inedible colours are being used in preparation of sweets. Even the ghee used to prepare sweets and other food items was found to be adulterated. There are a couple of shops that have not displayed FSSAI food license. In some of the cases the expiry date of the packed food items were not mentioned.
The district administration has appealed to shop owners to maintain the quality and has also warned of strict legal actions if food safety standards are violated.
The district administration has also alerted all police stations to maintain a vigil on the transportation of adulterated paneer and other milk products as in the past festive season huge quantities of such items have been seized in Ranchi. Meanwhile, the district administration has also asked common people to inform the administration if they have information about any shop and installation selling substandard food.