Thursday, 22 October 2020 | PNS | Dehradun
The Dehradun district food safety department will take action against those sweet sellers who are not complying with the directions of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to mention the best before date of loose sweets displayed in shops. Moreover, the administration is also inspecting the shops and taking samples to check for adulteration in food ingredients like Kuttu Atta (water chestnut flour) which is used in meals more during Navratri festival.
As informed by the district food safety officer Ganesh Kandwal, the department carries out all kinds of inspections to check adulteration in food products in the district to ensure the quality of the food products throughout the year. He said that a team from the administration recently collected 10 samples of ingredients like Kuttu Atta from various shops which is used mostly during Navratri festival. He further stated, “We are always working to maintain safe consumption of food items throughout the year in Dehradun district. We also organise various drives and carry out different types of inspections regularly and it is not something we do specially during festivals.”
Meanwhile, many local sweet sellers are yet to start displaying the best before date in the container of sweets displayed in the sweet shops from October 1 as per the instructions of FSSAI. Talking about this, Kandwal said that for the compliance of the orders of FSSAI by local sweet sellers, the administration has talked to the associations of the local sweet sellers and asked them to inform the people associated with this business. “Since the orders were implemented from October 1, it is still new for many sweet sellers. We have given them sufficient time to understand and comply with this order. Many shopkeepers in the urban areas have even started to display best before dates on displayed sweets. However, we will conduct surprise inspections of the sweet shops during the festive season and action will be taken against those who would fail to comply with the order as per the rules,” said Kandwal.
