The food safety team of the health department on Wednesday seized around 75 kg of imported empty nutritional supplement wrappers, 100 kg of health supplements and 36 boxes of artificial flavouring agents during a surprise inspection at a supplement store on Tibba Road, suspecting possible violations related to repackaging and misbranding.
During the raid, officials recovered a large quantity of imported empty wrappers of various nutritional supplements, which they said could potentially be misused for repackaging, misbranding and illegal marketing of food supplements.
The seized stock has been taken into custody for further investigation under the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
To verify the quality and safety of the products being sold, the food safety Team collected four samples for laboratory analysis. The samples included Weight Gainer, Isopure Whey Protein, Whey Protein, and Ultra Pure Whey Formula, which have been sent to the state food laboratory. Further legal action will be initiated based on the laboratory reports.
District health officer Dr Ashish Chawla said the department is committed to ensuring that only safe, genuine and legally compliant food products are available in the market.
He said all food business operators dealing in health supplements must procure products only from authorised sources and comply with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) norms, including valid licences, proper labelling, batch numbers, manufacturing and expiry dates, ingredient declarations, nutritional information and complete product traceability.Dr Chawla said the recovery of unauthorised imported packaging material and artificial flavouring agents is a matter of concern as such materials can potentially be misused in the manufacture, repackaging or sale of counterfeit and misbranded food products, posing a risk to consumer health.
{{/usCountry}}He said all food business operators dealing in health supplements must procure products only from authorised sources and comply with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) norms, including valid licences, proper labelling, batch numbers, manufacturing and expiry dates, ingredient declarations, nutritional information and complete product traceability.Dr Chawla said the recovery of unauthorised imported packaging material and artificial flavouring agents is a matter of concern as such materials can potentially be misused in the manufacture, repackaging or sale of counterfeit and misbranded food products, posing a risk to consumer health.
{{/usCountry}}He warned that strict legal action would be taken against anyone found violating the Food Safety and Standards Act and related regulations.
The health department said enforcement drives against food adulteration, counterfeit products and misbranding will continue across Ludhiana district. Consumers have also been advised to purchase nutritional supplements only from authorised retailers and verify the FSSAI licence number, manufacturing details, batch number and expiry date before buying any product.