Delhi food safety department seizes over 322 kg ghee amid festive-season inspections

The Delhi government’s food safety department has seized over 322 kg of ghee over suspicious quality and pricing during inspections of shops advertising heavy discounts on social media ahead of the festive season, officials said on Friday.

The department inspected stores touting offers such as ‘Buy One, Get One Free’ and up to 60 per cent discounts, to check compliance with food safety standards and prevent sale of adulterated, substandard, expired or incorrectly labelled products.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, in a statement issued Friday, said the government would not tolerate food adulteration or irregularities that pose a risk to public health.

She urged consumers to check the quality and packaging of food products, along with their manufacturing and expiry dates, before purchasing them.

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During inspections at Maxcart Store and Aggarwal Store in Vikaspuri, officials collected five enforcement samples of ghee from different brands and five samples of other food products. More than 75.50 litres of ghee was seized.

At Aggarwal Store in Hastal village, the team collected three enforcement samples of ghee from the Shri Shan, Vrinda Farms and Avtar brands and seized 246 kg of the product.

The department said the findings would be assessed along with laboratory test reports before further action is taken.

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In separate inspections, two samples of sugar-boiled confectionery were collected from Sahib Sons in Azad Market, operating under the trade name Vicon International, over suspected labelling irregularities.

Samples of makhana and turmeric powder were also collected from Jain Store in Lajpat Nagar. Officials collected samples of two varieties of biscuits, soft candy and sugar-based candy from Yug Basket Private Limited in Rithala.

The department said shortcomings in compliance with food safety standards were recorded at the inspected establishments, and further action would be taken in this regard.