BENGALURU: The food safety and drug administration department on Monday conducted a special inspection drive across Karnataka, targeting sweets manufacturing units and other food businesses to check compliance with food safety, hygiene and labelling norms. The drive, conducted on the directions of Health and Family Welfare Minister UT Khader, covered Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts, areas under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), Mysuru, Dakshina Kannada, Belagavi, Kalaburagi and Hubballi-Dharwad.
The inspections uncovered a range of violations, including expired food products, improper and misleading labelling, unhygienic manufacturing and storage conditions, fly infestation, use or storage of unauthorised artificial colours and failure to follow mandatory food safety practices. Several products were also found without essential label declarations such as the manufacturer’s name and address, batch number, date of manufacture, Use By date, MRP and FSSAI licence or registration number.
According to the department, the special inspection drive resulted in the seizure of food products worth approximately Rs 5.99 lakh. Samples of sweets, dairy products, oils, tea powder, khova and other food items were collected from several establishments and sent to government food laboratories for quality and safety analysis. The department said action would be taken against establishments based on violations and test results.
In Bengaluru, around 49kg of tea powder, 20kg of khova/kalakand and 2.5kg of pistachios were seized from Asha Sweets in Yeshwanthpur. Samples collected from the unit have been sent for testing.
At Bikaner Sweets on Magadi Road, officials found unhygienic conditions and serious deficiencies in labelling. The unit was temporarily closed in the interest of public health, and legal action has been initiated.
At Lal Sweets, around 60kg of packaged products, including banana chips and chakli masala were seized for allegedly failing to carry mandatory details such as the manufacturer’s name and address and FSSAI licence number. Officials also observed fly infestation and unhygienic conditions at the unit, which could potentially lead to contamination. A notice was subsequently issued to the establishment.
Four food samples suspected to be non-conforming were collected from Sandesh Sweets and sent to a government laboratory for analysis. India Sweets was issued a notice after officials observed violations of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and other relevant rules. Venkateshwara Sweets was also issued a notice for unhygienic conditions.
At Balaji Milk Khova, officials found products without mandatory information including the date of manufacture, Use By date, batch number, MRP and FSSAI logo and licence or registration number. Consequently, 150 kg of Kalakand Khova and 250 kg of Khova, totalling 400 kg, were seized. The products were valued at approximately Rs 77,500. The unit was also found to be operating under unhygienic conditions and was issued a notice.
At Mithai Factory, officials seized 14packets of incorrectly labelled chikki, along with five litres of expired Nandini curd. The team also seized incorrectly labelled chocolate decoration materials in 13 large packets and six small packets.
