Of these, 66 were found to be misbranded, 52 samples were of sub-standard quality and one sample was declared unsafe. The results of 121 samples were yet to come. Officials stated that during the festive season, there were cases of misbranded and sub-standard food on a regular basis.
Vijay Nehra, municipal commissioner, AMC, led the operation that witnessed multiple inspections across the city during the month of August, and found many known products allegedly violating the norms prescribed under the Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011.
“Many of the products under the scanner were found to be either misbranded or sub-standard in quality and unsafe for human consumption,” according to a statement by the Ahmedabad civic body, which initiated the drive on August 15. As a part of their daily routine, AMC officers, inspected various food outlets in parts of the city, like CG road, Panchvati, SG Highway and Prahalad Nagar, bringing them under the scanner.
AMC officials collected about 150 samples from 20 shops. These included butter, fryums, edible oil, pasta, chilly powder, toast and dabeli masala. These were tested in the public health laboratory. Commenting on the matter, Bhavin Solanki, medical officer of health, AMC, said, “Twenty-four of the 150 food samples that were collected from the 20 shops and tested in the lab were found to be unsafe for human consumption.”
Adding that the results of the rest would be out in a week’s time, he added that out of the 20 establishments that were raided, about half were found to be using sub-standard ingredients that did not conform to the food safety standards laid down. Most of these shops were situated in such localities as Navrangpura, Asarwa, Indrapuri, Meghaninagar, Jamalpur, Krishnanagar and Sahibabaug.
Solanki said, “Samples of pani puri collected from Usmanpura, Apna Bazar, Lal Darwaja and Palary were also found to be of a low quality. The potato mix, chutney and pani puri water failed all the four levels of quality tests. We have kicked off a health drive as a preventive measure. The raids on pani puri vendors were a part of it to ensure that the health of the public is not affected to the adulteration of food.”
