Health team raids ‘namkeen’ factory running sans licence

Hoshiarpur, November 26

District Health Officer Dr Lakhvir Singh and his food safety team raided a ‘namkeen’ factory here yesterday. The team was surprised to see that not only inedible colours and substandard ingredients were being used in preparing the namkeen, but also the material being put in packets was kept on the floor.

The factory was running without a food licence at a house in a narrow lane near Bhangi Choe. The DHO destroyed the substandard raw material being used for preparing ‘namkeen’. He also collected samples of the prepared material.

Dr Lakhvir Singh said the factory operator, Naresh Kumar, a resident of UP, did not even put up a board in front of his factory. Workers did not wear a cap on their heads or gloves in hands. Spices used in the ‘namkeen’ were of poor quality and some inedible colour was added to it. Poor quality refined oil was also being used. Manufacturing date, details about ingredients and address were not mentioned on the packets.

The DHO appealed to public to contact the Civil Surgeon’s office or the food safety team in case they came across such factories making sub-standard food items.