Gujarat: Ahmedabad civic body intensifies food safety checks; two units sealed
Ahmedabad, Aug 25 (IANS) The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has intensified its food safety inspections ahead of the festival season, using rapid testing kits to check sweets, farsan, dairy products and other food items on the spot, and sealed two establishments after detecting violations.
The AMC Food Department said its teams have conducted rapid-kit tests at 22 food units across the city so far. The initiative aims to conduct preliminary screening for adulteration without waiting for laboratory results.
The checks include testing silver foil used on sweets, non-food-grade colours, starch in khoya and mawa, vegetable fat in sweets sold as “Pure Ghee”, the authenticity of saffron, and starch in paneer and cheese.
During one inspection, a rapid test of kaju katri at Shri Kanhaiyalal Mavawala, near Kalupur Gate, indicated that the foil used on the sweet was made of a metal other than silver.
The Food Department subsequently traced the kaju katri to a manufacturing unit at 370/1976, Gujarat Housing Board, Bapunagar, Ahmedabad. The unit was sealed in the public interest.
The department also sealed Shri Balaji Mavawala’s godown at Vadigam in Dariapur after finding that the establishment lacked an FSSAI licence and that hygienic conditions were inadequate.
The AMC said the rapid tests are intended as preliminary or screening examinations. If officials detect a suspected violation, they can take immediate action and, where necessary, collect samples for detailed analysis at an authorised laboratory.
Further action will be based on the laboratory findings and applicable legal provisions. The inspections cover sweets, namkeen and farsan, biscuits, cookies, paneer and cheese.
In sweets, officials are checking silver foil, prohibited colours, starch in khoya or mawa, the use of vegetable oil or other vegetable fats in products sold as pure ghee, and the authenticity of saffron.
Officials are also checking farsan and other products for unauthorised or non-food-grade colours.
The AMC has asked food business operators, including sweet and farsan manufacturers and dairy-product producers, to use only approved raw materials, permitted food colours, and ingredients that meet prescribed standards.
It has warned that establishments found operating without an FSSAI licence or violating food safety requirements will face action under applicable provisions of the FSSAI and Gujarat Provincial Municipal Corporations Act.
The civic body said inspections of sweet and farsan units are continuing across Ahmedabad during the festival season.
–IANS
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