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Bengaluru: Karnataka’s Food Safety and Drug Administration has intensified scrutiny of sweet manufacturing units and retail outlets across the state, collecting 270 food samples in a two-day special drive and sending them to government laboratories for quality and compliance testing.
The inspection drive was undertaken on the directions of Health and Family Welfare Minister U.T. Khader under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and the Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration) Regulations, 2011.
On October 16 alone, officials inspected 106 sweet manufacturing units and sales outlets across Karnataka.
During the second day of the drive, 145 food samples were collected from sweet manufacturing units and retail outlets and sent to the respective Government Food Laboratories for analysis. The testing is intended to assess the quality of the products and whether they comply with prescribed food safety standards.
The inspections also revealed several compliance issues.
According to the department, officials found unhygienic conditions in food preparation and storage areas, absence of medical fitness certificates for food handlers and deficiencies in product labelling.
Notices were issued to 15 sweet manufacturing units or food business operators based on violations detected during the October 16 inspections. A total penalty of ₹7,000 was imposed on two food business operators.
Across the two-day period of October 15 and 16, the department inspected a total of 186 sweet manufacturing units and sales outlets across Karnataka.
During these inspections, 270 food samples were collected and sent to Government Food Laboratories for analysis.
In the two-day exercise, notices were issued to 25 sweet manufacturing units or food business operators. The total penalty imposed remained ₹7,000, involving two food business operators.
The latest drive places laboratory testing at the centre of the enforcement process, with the final assessment of the collected sweets depending on analytical results from government laboratories.
The department has said the inspections will continue against sweet manufacturing units and sales outlets found violating food safety and quality requirements.
It has also warned that stringent legal action will be initiated against violators in accordance with applicable provisions of law.
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Atul Chaturvedi 
