Special Campaign Against Adulterated and Unsafe Food Continues in Rupnagar
Food Safety Team Collects 35 Samples; Spoiled Khoya Barfi, Chamcham and Besan Destroyed
Rupnagar, September 22: Under the directions of Punjab Health Minister S. Balbir Singh and the Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration, Punjab, a special campaign is being carried out across Punjab to prevent food adulteration and ensure the availability of safe and quality food products to the public. As part of this campaign, the Food Safety Department is continuing intensive monitoring and inspection activities across Rupnagar district.
Under the leadership of Civil Surgeon Rupnagar, Dr. Vivek Kataria, the Food Safety Team is conducting inspections and collecting samples from various areas of the district under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. During the months of August and September, a total of 35 samples were collected under the supervision of Assistant Commissioner Food, S. Manjinder Singh Dhillon, and Food Safety Officer Smt. Sangeeta Sahdev.
The samples included 5 samples of paneer, 10 samples of sweets, along with samples of edible oils, desi ghee, ready-to-eat food products, spices and other food items. According to the test reports received so far, 6 samples failed to meet the prescribed standards, while 14 samples were found to be compliant with the required standards. The test reports of the remaining samples are awaited.
Under the Food Safety and Standards Act, challans have been issued for three violations related to hygiene and sanitation rules against food business operators who failed to comply with prescribed cleanliness and hygiene requirements. In addition, five improvement notices have been issued to traders involved in the sweets and bakery businesses to ensure compliance with the prescribed food safety standards.
During inspections of various shops, the Food Safety Team recovered approximately 70 kilograms of spoiled khoya barfi, 30 kilograms of chamcham and 20 kilograms of spoiled besan, which were destroyed as per the prescribed rules. The action was taken with the objective of ensuring that people have access to safe, hygienic and quality food.
Assistant Commissioner Food, S. Manjinder Singh Dhillon, said that the department is taking strict action as per the rules to prevent any kind of adulteration in food. He said that food business operators are being continuously made aware of the need to comply with the standards prescribed under the Food Safety and Standards Act and to provide safe and quality food products to consumers.
He further said that, keeping in view the importance of this issue concerning public health, the department’s monitoring and inspection campaign will continue in the future as well. Strict action will be taken as per law against those who compromise with the quality and safety of food products.
