PIONEER NEWS SERVICE /Haridwar
The Food Safety department seized around 500 kg of paneer during a special inspection drive in Haridwar on Monday. The drive was carried out during Ramzan festivals and ahead of Holi and on the instructions of the food safety commissioner Sachin Kurve and district magistrate Mayur Dixit.
A team led by the deputy commissioner, R S Rawat inspected a dairy at Ikkad Chowk in Sarai area. During the inspection, the officials found about five quintals of paneer stored in a deep freezer. Two samples were taken and sent for laboratory testing.
They further said that the dairy’s license had been issued for the Haridwar municipal corporation area, but the shop was located in Haridwar tehsil. The team did not find any purchase or sale invoices for the paneer. The dairy owner, Raees Ahmed is said to have told the officials that the paneer under question had been brought from Mathura.
The department has given the owner three days to correct the license, submit proper documents and maintain temperature-controlled storage. The officials warned that strict action would be taken if the lab testing report is not satisfactory.
The team also collected samples of vanaspati ghee and coriander powder from a store in Kankhal. The officials inspected a Reliance warehouse and an e-commerce centre in State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (SIIDCUL). Samples of semolina, flour, gujiya, and edible oil were taken for testing. The officials said that the special checking drive would continue until Holi and Ramzan festivals are over.
