Food safety violations in Rachakonda: 52 held over lack of licences, expired eatables, banned colours

Hyderabad: In a special drive against food adulteration, 52 individuals were arrested and 46 cases were booked by the Rachakonda police on Wednesday. The raids were conducted at eateries in LB Nagar, Malkajgiri and Bhongir, among others.

Simultaneous raids conducted

Rachakonda Commissioner of Police G Sudheer Babu said special teams comprising the Special Operations Team (SOT), local police, and Armed Reserve conducted simultaneous raids at multiple premises where adulterated food items were being processed.

Multiple violations detected

“During the raids, several violations were noticed in addition to unhygienic preparation of food products. The violations included no FSSAI licence, sale without trade licence, no manufacturing or expiry dates and use of banned synthetic food colours,” said Sudheer Babu.

Counterfeit branding exposed

Police revealed that several manufacturers were affixing counterfeit labels of reputed brands on the product packages to mislead consumers and sell substandard items in the market.

Huge quantities seized

During the operation, authorities seized:

- 575 litres of adulterated ghee in 11 cases at the LB Nagar zone.

- 7,000 litres of ginger garlic paste in 17 cases at Maheswaram and Malkajgiri zones.

- 35 kilograms of adulterated paneer in 18 cases at Bhongir.

- Immunity-boosting tablets and powder worth Rs 10 lakh seized in Malkajgiri.

- Additionally, dhaniya powder, milk, turmeric powder, bakery items, biscuits, sweets and ice creams were seized.

Strict action warned

The commissioner stated that the crackdown aimed to safeguard public health and warned of stringent legal action against those endangering consumer safety by indulging in food adulteration.