BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Saturday warned vendors at the ongoing Khandagiri Mela to follow food safety guidelines or face penal action.
Food safety officer Satyajit Patel said the civic body has destroyed nearly 1.2 quintal of stale and adulterated food following checks over the last three days.
“Around Rs 3,500 in fine has been collected, while vendors have been warned of strict action and seizure of licence in the event of breach of safety and hygiene norms,” Patel said.
The food safety officer said despite repeated caution, some vendors are using food colours that are harmful for health. “Such food items are being destroyed. However, appropriate action will be taken against the vendors if they fail to stop the practice,” he said.
Patel said a food safety team on Saturday visited around 40 food stalls along Khandagiri road and inspected the food quality and hygiene standards. Around 20 kg food not meeting standards was destroyed.
The officer said the mobile food safety laboratory and BMC enforcement teams have been deployed to check quality of food served by the vendors to customers in the nine-day fair that commenced on February 4.