Noida: A team of the food safety and drug administration department on Friday seized approximately 240 litres of ghee and 18 kg of chilli powder over labelling violations from a warehouse of City Mall, an online grocery retail platform, in Dadri.The raid was conducted on the directions of the district magistrate and was led by chief food safety officer Virendra Dwivedi. Assistant commissioner of food, grade II, Sarvesh Mishra said that the department had stepped up inspections to ensure food safety standards were being complied with during the Sharadiya Navratri festive season, when demand for certain food items increases.He said the ghee was confiscated after officials found claims on the packaging about the presence of vitamins and minerals in the product, which they considered potentially misleading. He said the chilli powder did not have essential information on its packaging, including the packing date and the batch number. The product was suspected to be misbranded, he said.“Apart from the seizures, officials also collected six food samples for laboratory testing. These included Avatar brand ghee, Avatar brand cow ghee, chilli powder, makhana (fox nuts), mustard oil and buckwheat flour, commonly known as kuttu atta. The samples will be examined to determine whether the products meet the prescribed quality and safety standards,” Mishra said.Laboratory findings will help determine whether further action is required against the products that were tested.The department also issued instructions to food business operators to ensure that products are procured only from licensed or registered suppliers. They were directed to maintain purchase bills and verify manufacturing dates, batch numbers and other mandatory labelling details before purchasing, storing or selling food items.Mishra said inspections and sample collection would continue under the district magistrate’s directions to safeguard public health and ensure food products meet the prescribed standards.
