Food safety and drug administration department on Thursday found 74 shops selling unhygienic and spurious soft drinks in the city. Most of the shops were on Broadway, NSC Bose Road, Poonamallee High Road and near Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. As many as 275 bottles of spurious soft drinks, 650 packets of coloured drinks, 550 packets of unlabelled buttermilk, 400 litres of unhygienic fruit mix and 350 water packets were seized.
“We have also created awareness among the retail outlets on the impact of spurious drinks on the health of consumers,” said an official. Officials told the retail sellers that their activity was emerging as a major challenge to public health in the city. The officials explained to the retailers that the spurt in water-borne diseases was usually caused by consumption of unhygienic water and beverages.
“Many bottles with popular soft drink brand names had spurious products. This is a cause of concern,” said an official.
On Wednesday, the food safety department officials seized 200 bottles of misbranded soft drinks and 1,875 unhygienic water and buttermilk sachets from various shops in areas such as T. Nagar and Teynampet.
The licences issued under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 have expired. So, the food safety officials are focussing more on awareness creation instead of legal action against the violators.
Action against traders selling spurious soft drinks will now be taken as per the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006.
