Rajkot: The Rajkot Municipal Corporation’s (RMC) health department sealed three food units and destroyed stale and inedible food during a food-safety drive on Friday.As part of the crackdown on suspected food adulteration and unhygienic practices, officials inspected 75 shops, restaurants and food production units. Notices were issued to 12 units for violations related to storage, licencing and hygiene, while penalties amounting to Rs 34,500 were collected. Officials said 10 food samples were also sent for laboratory analysis.Kesar Food Products near Vavdi village was sealed after inspectors allegedly found flour marked for animal feed being used as a raw material. Prepared farsan was also allegedly stored directly on the floor in unhygienic conditions.Officials destroyed around 1,020 kg of sweet sakkarpara and flour deemed unfit for human consumption. The unit was fined Rs 5,000 and issued a notice for storage and hygiene violations.At Shah Food Processing Private Limited on Gondal Road, inspectors allegedly found the unit operating without technical personnel and lacking batch-wise production records. They also seized preservatives, soft drinks, soda, spices and other products that allegedly did not carry labels compliant with the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.Officials seized nearly 5,972 kg of various essences and around 2,000 litres of products that lacked manufacturing and expiry details. The unit was sealed along with a fine Rs 10,000 and served a hygiene notice. Samples of mango powder and whitener were collected for laboratory testing.Shreenathji Trading, also located on Gondal Road, was sealed after officials allegedly found that it had failed to maintain batch-wise production records. Spice powders marketed under different brand names were allegedly stored without the mandatory food-safety labels.Authorities seized around 5,600kg of suspected stock, including chilli, turmeric and coriander powders. The firm was fined Rs 10,000 and issued a notice for unhygienic storage. Samples of turmeric, chilli and coriander powders were also collected for laboratory analysis, officials said.
