Crackdown Reveals Dirty Underbelly of City's Food Businesses
Averaging at more than 2 tonnes a day, the seized materials do not include the 12 tonnes of offal and meat products seized by the police in the city on Thursday.
Hyderabad:The city appears to be in the grip of a pandemic of unscrupulous businesses selling adulterated, stale, and even rotten food materials and foods made using such products. The crackdown by the city police on such businesses has begun to reveal the true extent of the problem and how the GHMC, which is vested with the responsibility of keeping an eye on business enterprises and licencing them, has been in the dark on such goings on.
Just in about a month since city police commissioner V.C. Sajjanar launched the Hyderabad Food Adulteration Surveillance Team (H-FAST), with the sole purpose of detecting and prosecuting food adulteration, this team of 28 police officers has much to show for their work – all of 62 tonnes of adulterated, expired, or rotten foods, or final preparations using such materials.
Averaging at more than 2 tonnes a day, the seized materials do not include the 12 tonnes of offal and meat products seized by the police in the city on Thursday.
“It is not just the concerns about such food materials, equally, if not more concerning is the poor hygiene in places where foods are being manufactured,” Sajjanar told Deccan Chronicle on Thursday.
The seizures indicate the scale of the problem that has clearly emerged as a serious menace to public health. Asked about products, such as Osmania biscuits, or paneer made with adulterated raw materials that are already in the supply chain, Sajjanar said, “What we have done is a start, there is a long way to go. We are also coordinating with the GHMC to have it step up its inspections on food businesses, check licences, and take action. There are teething problems but these will be overcome in the days to come.”
The city police chief called on people to be cautious about the quality of food they purchase. “People also should be careful about checking and finding out where the foods they are buying are coming from. On our part, we are trying to increase awareness on this issue.”
“We have already held meetings with representatives of various food businesses to impress upon them the importance of using quality materials. This is just the start and we, along with GHMC and other departments, will continue to crack down and create awareness on these issues,” Sajjanar said.
New born H-FAST of city police makes its mark
Items – Cases – Quantity – Problem
Ginger garlic paste – 22 – 18 tonnes – Low quality raw materials
Tea powder – 4 – 2 tonnes – Added colour, dust, poor quality leaves
Chicken/meat – 4 – 17 tonnes – Nearly perished state, bacterial contamination risk
Curd – 1 – 2.5 tonnes – Spoils easily, added starch
Paneer – 3 – 4.5 tonnes – Added starch, low quality milk used
Chips/candy – 1 – 100 kgs – Poor quality oil, artificial additives
Pickles – 2 – 9 tonnes – Unhygienic preparation, excess preservatives
Ghee/oil/cream – 1 – 4 tonnes – Mixed with cheaper oils, synthetic substances
Khova – 3 – 5 tonnes – Added starch, substandard milk
Samosa/Osmania biscuit/mixture – 20 – NA – Made in unhygienic conditions
Ice cream units – 6 – NA – Contamination arising from poor hygiene
Expired foods/fried onions – 8 – NA – Expired/unsafe raw materials
Restaurant food complaints – 6 – NA – Substandard ingredients, unhygienic conditions
Other cases – 11 – NA – Miscellaneous foods
Total – 92 – 62 tonnes
98 persons arrested till Wednesday, April 1
H-FAST tipline - 8712661212
NA - Quantities not available
