SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, July 28: The special squad of state headquarter Food Safety slapped a Rs 10,000 fine on a shop in Basukinath (Dumka) for selling adulterated ‘Peda’ in the Shrawani Mela.
The team comprising Food Safety Officers (FSOs), Amit Kumar (Dumka), Dinesh Marandi (Sahebganj), Ranchi food lab analyst Umesh Kumar on Friday raided Sukhari Mandal Peda shop in Taljhari Bajar under Jarmundi block and slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 for selling adulterated ‘Peda’ to devotees.
The team collected the samples of ‘Peda’ and got them tested immediately in the Food Testing Mobile Van in which the item was found spurious.
The officials of the team said that right from July 4 so far a total of 650 suspected samples of Khoya, Peda, skimmed milk powder, oil and other items were tested in which 65 of them were found adulterated.
They said a Basukinath Bus stand-based Peda godown was also raided where row khoya storage, maintenance and Peda making process was found in unhygienic condition. The FSO directed them to maintain standards as per the guidelines of the Food Safety Standard Act.
“The food safety team not only takes action against shop owners but also runs awareness among them for selling pure food items and avoid any type of adulteration. They are also being informed about action if found selling adulterated food items,” they said.
The FSOs team said that in the last 24 days, more than 65 quintals of spurious ‘Peda’ have been destroyed and legal action was initiated against 25 shop operators.
