Delhi government orders inspection to check food adulteration during Holi

The demand for sweets and namkeen witness a rapid increase during Holi and often leads to substandard products flooding the markets, mainly in unauthorised ones.

Ahead of Holi, the food safety department has ordered random inspection of eateries and other food businesses across the city to check for food adulteration, especially in sweets and gujiya.

Widows participate in Holi celebrations in, Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh, India, on Tuesday. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

The demand for sweets and namkeen witness a rapid increase during Holi and often leads to substandard products flooding the markets, mainly in unauthorised ones.

“It has been decided by the Commissioner, Food Safety, to conduct special drive during the Holi season to lift both surveillance and legal samples of sweets, especially gujiya and related items. All designated officers are directed to get the samples lifted,” said an order issued by the food safety department on Monday.

Officials said all the 11 district units have also been asked to maintain surveillance using their own intelligence units.

A department official said that they have received complaints of substandard products in food items, especially gujiya -- a common gifting item during Holi, in the past.

“Our department takes the food samples on regular basis to ascertain the food safety. This Holi we are giving specific attention to sweets, ingredients used in the sweets and gujiya. Whereas the food samples that are found to be unsafe are sent for prosecution with penalty and imprisonment, the substandard and mis-branded food articles will attract financial penalty. The food business also gets a chance to appeal against the findings of the state food lab so that a fair and transparent process is followed before the final action. The department also directs the suspicious food to be discarded immediately in case sufficient reasons are there to believe that the food product is harmful or spurious,” said food safety commissioner Neha Bansal.

The food safety department has units in all 11 administrative districts. “We have 15 food safety officers who carry out field inspections... All of them have been directed to ensure that the samples are lifted from random places both on the basis of complaints and also on the basis intelligence that they gather,” said an official.

In April 2021, nearly 400 people had fallen sick after eating adulterated buckwheat flour in Kalyanpuri area and all of them were brought to nearby Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital with complaints of stomachache, diarrhoea and vomiting. Most of them were discharged after primary treatment.

During festivals the threats of adulteration is believed to grow.

Virender Kumar Jain, president of the Federation of Sweets and Namkeen Manufacturers, a pan India union of traders engaged in manufacturing and sale of sweets and namkeen, said after two years of the pandemic, there is an enthusiasm in the market this year. “In Delhi, buyers pay good price for good products, so there is no motivation for adulteration. There is no chance of adulteration in premium and branded manufacturers and sellers. The decision of the department to carry out inspection to check adulteration is a welcome move,” said Jain.

Bansal said the department is currently compiling reports on samples already collected and tested. “We will share the report after the results are compiled,” said Bansal.