Thane, Sep 1 (PTI) The FDA has busted a major food packaging racket in Navi Mumbai that altered manufacturing and expiry dates of export products of reputed companies, seizing food stock and expired goods of more than Rs 76 lakh, officials said on Tuesday.
The seized items included popular snacks, beverages, and instant foods, including wafers and potato chips, noodles of a popular brand, soup, mayonnaise packets and cans of major aerated drink brands, a release by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) said.
The operation involved erasing original manufacturing and expiry dates from packaging, printing new dates, and placing fresh stickers over original ingredient and nutritional information to resell expired stock, it said.
The crackdown was conducted jointly by the FDA and the Navi Mumbai police’s Crime Branch between August 24 and 29 at M/s Sadhna Enterprises in the Turbhe area of Maharashtra’s Navi Mumbai township. The establishment was found storing, repacking, and illegally tampering with labels of products linked to 10 prominent exporter companies in Mumbai, New Delhi and Noida, the FDA said.
Authorities seized 4,942 cartons of food stock valued at Rs 75,21,269, along with unlabeled and expired goods of Rs 1,30,600, the release said.
They also collected samples of some products for lacking required FSSAI licenses and purchase bills.
The food license of the establishment was immediately suspended, the FDA said.
An FIR has been registered at Turbhe police station against the partners and associated exporters under various sections of the Food Safety and Standards Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
“The government is extremely strict regarding food quality and law enforcement in Maharashtra. Playing with the health of consumers and the general public will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Strict legal action will continue against those who store or sell expired or tampered food items,” the FDA stated. PTI COR GK
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