Hyderabad, Apr 1 (PTI) From busting units manufacturing adulterated ginger-garlic pastes, bakery items, including the Hyderabad’s iconic Osmania biscuits, authorities in coordination with the newly formed ‘H-FAST’ (Hyderabad – Food Adulteration Surveillance Team) team, have arrested over 60 people here involved in manufacturing and selling adulterated food products during March.
As many as 61 cases were registered and 64 people were arrested with 14,685 Kgs and 400 liters of adulterated food products seized in crackdown on food adulteration in the city on March 30, officials said.
Several food items, including ginger garlic paste, ice cream, paneer and other dairy products, tea powder, chicken/meat, curd, chips/candy, samosas, ghee, oil, were found contaminated besides low quality raw materials being used in their manufacturing.
The Hyderabad Food Adulteration Surveillance Team (H-FAST) was established under the leadership of Hyderabad Police Commissioner V C Sajjanar, in close coordination with Food Safety Officers to strengthen food safety enforcement and regulatory action.
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on March 30 said his government would establish a dedicated mechanism to check food adulteration.
Sajjanar said with public health as the highest priority, the decision of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to establish a dedicated system for food safety is truly commendable.
Sajjanar in a post on ‘X’ recently said: “Food adulteration is not just a crime. It is a silent, deadly attack on every household. From the biscuits and ice creams we lovingly give our children to everyday essentials like ginger-garlic paste, tea powder, milk, and curd, adulterators are poisoning the very food we trust. The scale and brazenness of these acts are deeply alarming.” He further said there will be zero tolerance for those who gamble with innocent lives for profit.
H-FAST comprises 28 personnel, including Inspectors, Sub-Inspectors, and supporting staff, focusing on surveillance, detection, and prosecution of offences related to unsafe food.
The team will conduct raids in close coordination with Food Safety Officers, ensuring effective enforcement through strong cooperation and seamless coordination, officials earlier said.
Authorities conducted raids on units and found the accused manufacturing and supplying ice candies and lassi in highly unhygienic conditions, allegedly using chemicals and unsafe ingredients with the intent of earning illegal profits, thereby posing a serious risk to public health.
During their operation, Task Force and H-Fast team apprehended the owner of a unit involved in manufacturing adulterated ginger-garlic paste. The unit at in Kattedan was operating in unhygienic conditions, using inferior raw materials and additives, with no proper food safety standards. The products were supplied to restaurants and retail outlets, posing a serious public health risk, officials said.
Raids carried out in areas under Mailardevpally police station limits revealed that the accused were preparing mixture, namkeen, chikkis, and Osmania biscuits without adhering to food safety standards, using harmful chemicals, and supplying the same to local markets, they said.
In another case, Police, the H-FAST Team along with Food Safety Officers of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) conducted a surprise inspection at an ice cream manufacturing unit at Musheerabad and found that the unit was involved in large-scale production and distribution of substandard ice cream products of various flavours. These were being supplied to wholesale and retail markets under misleading claims of quality, officials said.
In yet another case, one person involved in supply of spoiled chicken was nabbed after the sleuths of H-FAST Team, along with Veterinary Officer, conducted an inspection at a premises in Moosapet.
During the inspection, it was found that spoiled chicken was being stored under unhygienic conditions and supplied to local vendors for preparation of food items intended for public consumption, they said.
Among the other cases, authorities busted illegal coconut powder and pickle manufacturing units being run in unhygienic conditions and a unit preparing bakery items. PTI VVK GDK VVK ROH
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