The Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration (UPFSDA) seized 20,924 kg of food items worth ₹ 66.87 lakh during a statewide crackdown ahead of Navratri over suspected food safety violations, including unhygienic storage, alleged adulteration and misbranding.
The inspections covered ghee, edible oil, vanaspati, buckwheat (kuttu) and water chestnut (singhara) flour, sabudana and spices. In Unnao, officials acted against four quintals of contaminated food material being transported in a pickup vehicle on the Agra Expressway. The drive under the ‘Shuddh Hi Shubh Hai’ campaign, which continued until late on October 9, also led to the collection of 176 food samples and the destruction of 4,273 kg of food items worth ₹ 63,900 deemed unfit for human consumption. Officials issued 58 corrective notices, while proceedings to suspend two food business licences and initiate a case against an operator allegedly running without a licence were underway. In Lucknow, officials seized 748 kg of ghee worth ₹ 4.22 lakh and 573 kg of other food items, including buckwheat flour and groats, worth ₹ 88,260. In Kanpur, officials seized 390 kg of food items, including buckwheat and its flour, worth ₹ 81,300. Another 60 kg of whole buckwheat was seized for unhygienic storage. Lakhimpur reported the seizure of 210 kg of ghee worth ₹ 1.34 lakh. In Mau, they destroyed 60 kg of contaminated milk and 90 kg of milk cake worth ₹ 18,000.
Laboratory results from the 176 samples will help establish whether the suspected violations breached food safety standards. UPFSDA commissioner Dr Roshan Jacob directed enforcement teams not to harass small retailers unnecessarily and to focus on serious violations.
