Tuesday, 30 January 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Stating that food adulteration is a serious matter of public health, the Kumaon commissioner Deepak Rawat directed all district administrations of the Kumaon division to act against those involved in preparing and supplying adulterated products. He asked all district magistrates to conduct a massive campaign against food adulteration. Rawat issued the order after he found allegedly stale and adulterated Mawa stored in a shop located in Ramnagar’s Ramlila Colony of Nainital district. He along with Haldwani municipal commissioner Pankaj Upadhyay and city magistrate Richa Singh found during the inspection that a large quantity of Mawa was kept on the dirty ground in unhygienic conditions.
There was no arrangement for cleanliness and the Mawa was allegedly brought there from various places. When the dealer was asked to present the bill for Mawa, he failed to show it. The officials found that the address of the shop in the license was also different from the shop where Mawa was stored. Rawat called the food safety officer Sanjay Kumar on the spot to take samples of Mawa. He also directed him to check the Mawa preparations method in various locations from where the current dealer was buying the Mawa.
He said, “I was checking the sanitation conditions of the city on Monday when I noticed a man selling Mawa in a sack for Rs 210 per kilogramme. It is not possible to sell Mawa prepared from milk at this cheap rate. We suspected the possibility of adulteration and reached the said shop where tons of Mawa was stored in unhygienic conditions. The team took the samples of Mawa for testing. If the samples are found to be adulterated, authorities will register a case against the dealer besides imposing a hefty fine.” Rawat said that adulteration is a matter of concern for all district administrations.
