Lucknow, March 11: Officials of Uttar Pradesh Food Safety Department and Drug Administration Department have taken firm action against sellers of adulterated milk products like khoya, paneer, sweets and desi ghee and oil on Holi.
In Ghazipur district, teams of Food Safety Department raided more than 40 shops simultaneously and collected samples from nine shops. There is a strong possibility of adulteration in the milk products of the shopkeepers and sellers who took samples.
In Jalaun district, under the leadership of Food Safety Department’s Assistant Commissioner Food Dr. Jatin Kumar Singh, Chief Food Safety Officer Prem Kumar Tripathi, the team collected samples of paneer from Dharmendra Kumar’s premises, ghee from Radha Mohan Traders’ premises, khoya from Anil Kumar’s premises located at Ukdaura bus stand, Bundi laddu and milk cake from Sunil Kumar’s premises and khoya from Ram Shiromani’s premises.
In Aligarh district, a consignment of adulterated mustard oil being prepared to be consumed on the occasion of Holi was caught. The Food Safety Department team seized two hundred and fifty liters of mustard oil found on the spot in Khair and Gabhana areas.
The Food Safety Department team conducted a massive raid in Pilibhit district and took samples of milk products and seized materials at some places. The departmental team raided Omkar Sweets, Megha Sweets, Gupta Sweets, Nanak Sweets of Puranpur throughout the day.
In Gorakhpur district, the departmental team caught and confiscated adulterated oil and expired vermicelli. The team collected samples of khoya, paneer and milk products from different parts of the city. Similarly, in big cities like Agra, Varanasi, Lucknow and Kanpur, the Uttar Pradesh Food Safety Department is engaged in confiscating adulterated products and collecting samples.
Commissioner of Uttar Pradesh Food Safety Department and Drug Administration Department R. Kumar said that on festivals like Holi, sweets and salty products are sold in full swing. To take advantage of this, adulterators form a group and they engage in selling adulterated milk products and ghee and oil in an organised manner. In such a situation, the departmental team also increases its activity and the adulterators are caught.
He said that in view of Holi, the departmental teams have been instructed to remain active till March 16. In order to ensure that no adulterator escapes under any circumstances, samples of products are being taken from shops by monitoring the irregularities. After checking the samples, if any irregularities are found, action has to be taken.
