FDA to conduct thorough inspections of bakeries, cake shops by December 31

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be undertaking a special campaign to inspect bakeries, cake shops and stores to ensure that the Christmas and New Year celebrations are not marred by any irregularities. This campaign will include inspection of food items in hotels, cake shops, fast food joints and eateries. Meanwhile, the FDA has also announced that raids will be conducted till December 31 to inspect food items in bars and restaurants. Special inspection teams have been formed for this purpose.

Citizens prefer large quantities of cakes and bakery products to welcome Christmas and New Year. Also, citizens come out of their homes in large numbers on December 31 to welcome the New Year. On this day, citizens flock to hotels, bars, restaurants, and fast food joints to enjoy a variety of dishes. Given the increasing demand, there is a greater chance of food adulteration by bakeries, hotels and fast food joint operators. As a result, citizens are likely to get poor quality food. Keeping this in mind, the FDA will inspect these food vendors for the following, whether they have valid licenses, medical examination reports of their workers, water quality reports used for food preparation, overall cleanliness of the establishment, reuse of food items, food quality, packaging, and related aspects.

Apart from this, FDA officials will check the quality of perishable items like cheese, butter, chicken, mutton, etc. used to prepare various dishes. Meanwhile, the FDA team will conduct surprise raids on various establishments till December 31. Special inspection teams have been deployed to thoroughly inspect the establishments during these raids, informed Food and Drug Administration Minister Narhari Jirwal.

Legal action will be taken if food samples do not meet the required standards during this inspection. Compound fines will be imposed on vendors with registration certificates. Also, the licenses of establishments that do not meet food standards will be suspended.

Appeal to Citizens

Since active citizen participation is essential for effective enforcement of any law, the Deputy Commissioner (Food) of the Food and Drug Administration, Mangesh Mane, has urged that if anyone has a complaint regarding the quality or standards of any food item, they should report detailed information by calling the toll-free number 1800-222-365.

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