On tip-off, vehicle carrying ‘spurious” Paneer chased and intercepted in Zirakpur
Mohali: The food safety team of the district health department laid naka at Dappar toll plaza near Derabassi early morning today and checked all the vehicles carrying various food items. Civil surgeon Dr. Adarshpal Kaur and District Health Officer Dr. Subhash Kumar said that the inspection was carried out on the instructions of Mr. Abhinav Trikha, Commissioner of Food and Drugs Administration, during which six samples of milk, curd, cheese and other items were taken. All the vehicle drivers were also sensitized about the food safety act and to get complete all the documents as per the act.
The officials divulged that after the checking, they got a tip-off about a vehicle supplying spurious cheese from Haryana to Mohali. On the basis of the information, the team chased a suspicious vehicle coming from Haryana side for about 40 minutes, which was finally intercepted in Zirakpur. The team took a sample of cheese from the vehicle. The checking started at about 4 A.M today and many vehicles were stopped during the process.
Meanwhile, the health officials appealed to all the hotel, dhaba, dairy owners and caterers of the district to buy cheese, milk, curd and all other food items with proper bills and not to buy anything especially from other districts and states without a bill. They asked the shopkeepers that the sale of adulterated and substandard food products will not be tolerated at all as under the “Food Safety Standards and Regulation Act”, adulterated and substandard milk and milk products cannot be sold under any circumstances. They said sampling will continue in future also to stop adulteration.
They reiterated that issuance /modification of Food safety license/ registration is completely an online process. No physical submission of any documents is needed. Registration certificate or license can be obtained by applying online at www.foscos.fssai.gov.in for which government fee is charged. The checking team included Food Safety Officers Anil Kumar, Ravinandan Kumar and other staff.