Out of the total 1066 sample filled during festive season, reports of 526 samples still awaited while among remaining 540, 22 percent sample were found unsafe, Substandard and
Misbranded as many as 117 samples sample tested for food adulteration have failed- 28 unsafe, 87 substandard , 2 misbranded failed to meet – Adulteration in food items and beverages beverages becomes very common during festivals which is a matter of serious concern requiring the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) , the concerned authority, to come up with foolproof strategy in a bid to tighten the noose around the neck of defaulters breaching the norms. Despite the strict action being taken against shopkeepers and traders and the provision of imprisonment along with penalty, such elements do not hesitate to put people’s lives at stake for their greed of money. The situation is such that every time during the festive season, samples of food items on a large scale do not meet the standards. Although, the Food and Drugs Administration conducts regular raids and inspections from time to time, but there is no significant change in the situation on the ground. During festive season, samples of food items were taken by the officials of the department, of which even 22 percent samples did not meet the standards. Departmental data has revealed that these were taken from all the 22 districts of the state in festive season. A total of 1066 samples of food and beverages were taken in the state in the period of 29 days from October 18 to November 15. Of these, reports of 526 samples are still pending while among the remaining 540 samples , as many as 117 samples- 28 unsafe, 87 substandard , 2 misbranded has been found of the declining quality contrary to the the expectations. The FDA department consistently claims to come up with necessary measures to crack down on adulterators but contrary to this, it does not seem to have much impact . The biggest irony here is that by the time the report of the filled samples comes, people have already used them. Although the food items which are of very poor quality even on the spot are destroyed, but the food items which at first glance do not appear to be unsafe of substandard but later samples are found to be of poor quality, by then people would have consumed them. Although steps have been taken by the department to collect maximum samples and submit reports within stipulated time, but the efforts are inadequate.
Ashok Meena a senior IAS who holds the portfolio of the Commissioner, FD said that , the department has taken various steps to crack down on shopkeepers and traders involved in adulteration of food. Issuing guidelines and instructions on regular basis to keep defaulters on radar, the department comes up with every possible strategy to collect maximum sample as well as to ensure timely reports of the sample collected. It is pertinent to mention that during the festival season from 18th October to 15th November, 1066 samples of food items were collected from all the districts of the state. Hisar and Rohtak districts emerge on the top in terms collection of maximum samples with 82 and 76 samples filled followed by Kurukshetra, Jhajjar, Fatehabad, Sonipat, Panchkula and Mahendergarh with the collection of 73, 66, 66, 57, 54 and 54 samples respectively. The remaining samples were taken from other districts. It is pertinent to mention that the food samples with declining quality have been divided in three categories namely unsafe, substandard and misbranded. Further , what the reports of 540 samples revealed is that the as many as maximum 18, 16 and 16 sample of declining food quality were reported in Gurugram, Mahendergarh and Rewari followed by Jhajjar, Kaithal, Ambala, Panchkula, Panipat and Mewat with 14, 11, 8, 7, 6 and 5 samples of poor quality respectively. One of the officials divulged the information stating that during the festive season, adulteration is most prevalent in milk products. Since the sweets are used on large scale during festive season and the sweets are adulterated by shopkeepers and traders.