Salem: About 15 shops were sealed in Salem for selling banned tobacco toffees and other gutka products after a massive raid conducted by the food safety officials. Following seizure of tobacco-laced toffees near schools and colleges in Chennai last week, the food safety officials in Salem and Erode conducted raids in several shops to check if such banned tobacco products were being sold.
The designated food safety officer in Salem Dr T. Anuradha along with the narcotics wing deputy superintendent of police, Thangavel and inspector Palaniandi conducted raids on shops at Sevvapet, the busy market hub of Salem on Friday. During the raids, the food safety officer sealed as many as 15 shops and seized gutka products worth '2.5 lakh. As the officials arrived for the raids, a few shop owners locked up their outlets and escaped.
But food safety officials sealed those shops too. Later talking to the media, Dr Anuradha said that paan stalls, groceries and fancy stores near schools and colleges were selling tobacco toffees to children. These toffees do not carry any date of manufacturing or the ingredients and is a potential hazard to the health of the children. “These tobacco toffees are addictive drugs and children should not consume them,” she said. In neighbouring Erode too, similar raids were conduced by food safety officer G. Karunanidhi and tobacco toffees worth Rs 50,000 were seized.
