Chennai: Come Deepavali
and its time for laddoos and jelebis in most homes. But a sweet treat may send
you to the doctor if you are not careful.
Food safety officials, who are keeping a strict watch on the
quality of sweets and savouries being prepared for Deepavali at various
foodstalls in the city, warn that adulterants and poor quality oil are often
used to cut down costs.
On Thursday some of the 25 officials conducting raids on
sweet stalls, took six samples of wheat halwa, badhusha and milk sweets from
shops in Aminjikarai and inspected their manufacturing units on a complaint
from an insurance agent, G. Marimuthu, who claimed the sweets he bought from a
shop, Parvathi Bhavan in Aminjikarai on the occasion of Ayudha pooja had made
his friends sick.
Food safety official Lakshmi Naryanan says that based on the
agent’s complaint, samples of sweets were taken from the shop for testing.
“ We have also asked our officials to inspect other sweet
stalls which have started Deepavali sales,” he added, revealing that the
department intended to circulate handbills among the public to create awareness
about possible adulteration of sweets.
“Consumers need to be alert when buying sweets as many shops
use poor quality oil or vanaspati to prepare the so-called ghee sweets. The
shelf life of these sweets is very little,” he warned, explaining that that
several harmful colouring agents were also sometimes used to prepare the
sweets.
Food safety officials who receive complaints on the
helpline, 9842156266, have conducted some 15 inspections every month this year,
seizing among other things, huge quantities of adulterants of tea dust
and substandard water packets.
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