Health team inspects sweets shops in Mohali

Tribune News Service

Mohali, October 27

Under the supervision of District Health Officer Dr Subhash Kumar, a food safety team of the Health Department visited sweets shops in Sector 70, Phase 5, Sohana and Mataur here. The team members collected four samples of sweets and bakery items, including ‘khoya barfi’, ‘rasgulla’ and ‘besan ladoo’.

Dr Subhash said on the instructions of Civil Surgeon Dr Adarshpal Kaur, the food safety team checked the quality and durability of the sweets and milk. He said 10 kg of stale ‘pinnis’ were destroyed at a sweets shop in Mataur.

Officers gave instructions to food business operators to maintain hygienic conditions in the manufacturing process and display ‘use by date’ on sweets items.

He said necessary action would be taken to check adulteration of sweets during the festival season in the district. The team also appreciated sweets shop owners for minimising use of colour in sweets and using only FSSAI-permitted colours.

Dr Subhash said during the checking, the shopkeepers were instructed to follow the guidelines issued by the district administration and the Health Department to curb the spread of the Covid pandemic. The shopkeepers were also instructed not to sell expired items. They were told to wear gloves and masks and not allow anyone to enter the shops without a mask. The shopkeepers were also briefed on the Food Safety Act. They were asked to sell pure and unadulterated items and pay special attention to cleanliness.

He said that checking was not meant to harass anyone, but to ensure that clean and quality food items were made available to people. Food Safety Officer Rajdeep Kaur and Lovepreet Singh were part of the inspecting team.