Merchants’ assn pledges to combat food adulteration, uphold quality standards

Members of the Wholesale and Retail Karyana Merchants Association vowed to abstain from indulging in malpractices such as food adulteration and selling duplicate or inferior quality products.

They promised to follow the guidelines of the Food Safety and Drug Administration Department and conduct business in accordance with the guidelines of the Income Tax Department. An oath was taken regarding this during the concluding session of the annual event of the association at Pohir village near here. Tony Bhutta and Parmod Gupta chaired the inaugural and concluding sessions.

Conveners of the event said office-bearers and activists of the association had announced they would not support and shield any traders who violated the guidelines that were issued by the state or the Union Government regarding maintaining purity, quality, measurement and standard prices of food items from time to time.

“Though we will try our best to resolve all issues being brought to our notice, we will not shield those merchants who indulge in food adulteration for making a fast buck,” said Bhutta and Gupta, calling upon members of the association to follow guidelines of the department.

Earlier the administration had cautioned all stakeholders against zero tolerance for violating the guidelines of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), taking cognisance of rising incidents of unsafe food practices in the region.

Responding to an appeal made by executive member Tarsem Lal Garg, the organisers resolved that wholesalers transacting business in retail would also be penalised accordingly.