Draft. Amidst the increasing demand for fruits during Chhath festival, the Food Safety Department has started cracking down on adulteration and illegal trade. In this series, on Wednesday, the state level team of the department conducted a surprise inspection in the fruit market located on Prem Road, Masaurhi. The team investigated five warehouses in the market, where no valid license related to food business was found in any of the warehouses.
During investigation, the team found wax-like layer and suspicious stickers on some fruits. After this, samples of the concerned fruits have been collected and sent to the laboratory for testing. This action of the department was taken after the complaint of cooking and polishing of bananas, oranges, apples and other fruits used in Chhath festival with artificial chemicals.
The team led by Food Safety Officer Mukesh Kashyap also gave necessary guidelines to the fruit traders. He said that if banned chemicals or any harmful substance is found in the laboratory test, legal action will be taken as per rules along with imposing fine against the concerned businessmen.
During the inspection, fruit vendors were informed about the process of obtaining license from the Food Safety Department and the online application process. Also, an appeal was made to the consumers that while buying fruits for Chhath festival, they should not judge the quality only by looking at their external shine, but should also pay special attention to their purity and quality.