Sleuths of the Commissioner’s Task Force along with Food Safety Department officials raided two units and seized huge stocks of adulterated glucose and papads in the city on Thursday. The traders were taken into custody by the police and the samples of glucose and papads were collected by the food safety officials for laboratory tests.
Acting on tip-off, officials raided a warehouse of Swastik Products and Anjaneya Medicals near the One Town fish market and found 27 bags of glucose and a large number of small paper boxes printed with labels of popular brands in the market. Outdated and local-made medicines were also seized.
Dangerous mix
Officials found that the owners have been repacking the glucose they bought at wholesale price into branded sachets and paper boxes and selling them to medical shops and grocery stores in the city.
“Suspecting the presence of rice starch in the powder, we collected the samples and sent them to the lab,” said Assistant Food controller G. Purnachandra Rao.
‘Hazardous papad’
Later, the teams raided a papad manufacturing company at Radha Nagar in the Payakapuram area and found that owner did not have any permission.
“The premises was unhygienic. Also, the manufacturers were using poor quality black gram powder and sodium carbonate to make papads boil quickly and easily. The chemical substance is hazardous to health,” he added. The owners of the units were arrested and the units shut down.
