PANAJI/VASCO: FDA inspectors on Wednesday
morning confiscated twelve parcels of mawa or kalakand at Vasco railway station
brought from Miraj. The consignment was meant for delivery to sweet mart
vendors in Vasco city. The total quantity seized was 263 kg and valued at
approximately ` 40,000.
According to information available from Food and
safety officer attached to the FDA Rajiv Korde, the officials of the FDA have
received information about the illegal consignment being transported through
Vasco bound Hazrat Nizamuddin (Goa Express) passenger train on Tuesday.
Accordingly, a five-member team led by Korde including those of food and safety
officers Flavia D’Souza and Shradha Khutkar and two staff members Suresh
Shirodkar and Sandeep Shilke rushed to Sanvordem railway station at around 2.30
am in order to seize the illegal materials but they could not find any.
They later arrived at Vasco railway station where
the passenger train arriving from Delhi takes the final halt in the morning.
During the course of investigation, the FDA authorities noticed some parcels
thrown out onto the platform. Upon investigation, it was revealed that the khoa
and kalakand were packed inside the parcels. The parcels were loaded into the
train at Yeshwantpur and Miraj subsequently.
According to FDA inspectors, the railway authorities
said that the parcel receipt did not carry details of the person who booked it
and no name or address to whom it was meant to be delivered.
Inspectors said that the consignment was seized
because it was defective in labelling. Moreover the parcels were unclaimed.
Mawa is used in the preparation of sweets and suspect quantities of it
are brought into Goa from outside prior to Ganesh Chaturthi festival. A milk
based product, it spoils easily and hence transportation or storage has to be
refrigerated.
The latest FDA seizure is close on the heels of
officials thwarting attempts to bring in spurious quality of mawa by traders.
Some days back three raids were conducted in Ponda, Margao and Mapusa. But the
vendors returned the consignment back to Belgaum.
Meanwhile the FDA has stepped up surveillance on
sweets sold in stores. Acting on a complaint on Friday, August 30 from a
consumer that a sweet mart in Mapusa was selling stale kaju barfi which had
foul taste and smell, safety officers immediately visited the shop and sent the
sample of the sweets to a laboratory for quality assessment. The balance
quantity of kaju barfi sweets was removed from the shop to prevent further sale
and consumption. According to Salim Veljee, director, FDA surprise checks
show that food items which are faulty labelled are being brought from Kerala
and other parts of the country into Goa.
Goods worth almost Rs.45,000 were confiscated in
raids conducted in Salcette and around ` 30,000 from Chimbel. The raids in
Salcette taluka was in Margao, Navelim and Davorlim where it was found that
vendors did not possess food license and also the food articles were not
labelled in the manner required under Food Safety and Standards Act,
2006.
FDA has advised consumers to be vigilant whilst
purchase of sweets and farsan items, especially items which do not have proper
and complete product details on the labels.
Vendors have also been warned to exercise
responsibility while purchasing and displaying food articles which are properly
labelled in terms of manufacture date, best before use, net weight, MRP and
also its nutritional label declaration. Vendors include all super markets,
provision stores, Sahakar Bhandars, Bhagyatdar stores, and other retail
outlets.
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