Sambalpur Municipal Corporation conducts cracks down on food safety with raids at sweet shops

Sambalpur: The food safety squad of Sambalpur Municipal Corporation have conducted raids at multiple sweets shops in the city to ensure food safety on Diwali and collected 10 samples of suspected poor quality for testing.The squad conducted raids at 20 sweet shops on Saturday, and one of the outlets was penalised for not displaying its licence. “The samples have been collected to ascertain whether the products are adulterated or contaminated. Based on the report, action will be taken,” said SMC health officer Dr S K Tiriya.Sandeep Saurav, food security officer, told TOI, “We are imposing a penalty if any eatery does not follow food safety guidelines. It includes using artificial food colour, unhygienic kitchen, stale food, not displaying a licence, and overall hygiene of the outlet. We are waiting for reports from the Delhi laboratory. Action will be taken as per the report. If needed, food items will be destroyed, and licences of the particular eateries will be cancelled.”The inspection drive was intensified ahead of Dussehra. Food safety officials said that 70 eateries were raided during Dussehra, and 23 samples were collected for testing, whose reports are awaited. During Dussehra, penalty of Rs 5,000 was imposed on various outlets.A major issue highlighted by officials was the lack of a mobile testing laboratory in western Odisha. Food samples of all western Odisha districts are sent to the Delhi laboratory for testing, as the one in Bhubaneswar has a huge caseload.