Neemuch (Madhya Pradesh): Expired and substandard food items over one quintal were discovered during a surprise raid conducted at Ratan Sweets & Bakery in Neemuch on late Thursday night, following directives from collector Himanshu Chandra.
A joint team comprising officials from the Food Department, municipality and district administration sealed the establishment over serious irregularities and extremely poor hygiene standards.
Inspectors found expired mawa, sweets, ice cream, bread, buns, gulab jamun, chocolate barfi, cream and pickles on the premises. Many items had already crossed their expiry dates and were allegedly being sold to customers.
Food Safety Officer Yashwant Kumar Sharma confirmed that domestic LPG cylinders were being illegally used for commercial purposes inside the shop. The cylinder found on the premises was immediately seized. A total of seven food samples, including mawa, peda, chocolate barfi, packaged bread, Gulab Jamun, buns and cream, were collected and sent to a laboratory for analysis.
Inspectors further noted that packets of bread and buns lacked mandatory labelling details, including manufacture dates, expiry dates, batch numbers and manufacturer information. The municipal health team also documented widespread filth and grossly unhygienic storage conditions throughout the shop.
CMO Durga Bamaniya said, “The sanitary conditions observed during the inspection were abysmal. Food items were stored in an extremely unhygienic environment, constituting a direct compromise with the health of the general public.
The Municipality is maintaining constant vigilance regarding health and hygiene standards and any form of negligence will not be tolerated.” SDM Sanjeev Sahu confirmed that a series of surprise inspections across the district would continue.
Collector Chandra asserted that any act endangering public health would not be tolerated and that strict action would be taken wherever violations are detected.
