Hyderabad:
The Telangana Standards Authority for Food and Essential Drugs (TG SAFE) has suspended the licences and registrations of four manufacturing units of Hyderabad-based Sahil Foods and seized 55 tonnes of mislabelled food products worth Rs 33.94 lakh following inspections that revealed multiple food safety and hygiene violations.
Enforcement teams comprising food safety officers and police personnel inspected five manufacturing units of the company at Premavatipet, near Kattedan, in the industrial area of the city.
Sahil Foods manufactures a range of packaged snacks and savouries, including namkeens, puffs, wheels, popcorn and other crunchy and spicy snack products. Its product portfolio also includes items marketed as Chinese Bhel, Sev Samosa and Ulta Palta. The company says it began operations in 2004 and has developed a distribution network serving markets in India and overseas.
During the inspections, officials found that some food categories manufactured at the premises were not covered under the units' FSSAI licences, alongside deficiencies relating to transportation licensing.
Machinery used for snack production was found dusty, smoky and unhygienic, while production-area conveyors were clogged with food waste. Inadequate ventilation and improper storage of food articles directly on the floor were also reported.
Officials further found food waste littering, synthetic food colours stored in untidy buckets and some food handlers chewing gutka or pan masala. Production and sales records were not maintained, and the units could not produce shelf-life study records to support declarations of a three-month shelf life on packaged products. Records of food-product testing and water analysis were also unavailable.
Acting on the findings, TG SAFE suspended the licences and registrations of four units and ordered them to discontinue business operations.
Eleven samples of food products were collected for laboratory analysis on suspicion of adulteration.
The seizure of the food products and collection of samples form part of the enforcement action.
Earlier, the Telangana Standards Authority for Food and Essential Drugs (TG SAFE) inspected seven khoa and sweet manufacturing and retail units in Ariudn, Hyderabad, October 15 and detected multiple hygiene and food safety violations, including pest infestation, poor sanitation and improper food-handling practices. Officials collected eight samples over suspected adulteration and seized/discarded 2,480 kg of food products.
Two establishments, Madhura Dairy Products in Cheeryal and Desi Dairy Sweets in Jalpally, were ordered to close for operating without FSSAI licences under unhygienic conditions.
The FSSAI licences of Bhagya Laxmi Sweets and Burfi, Balaji Magic Mithai and Yashoda Dairy in Jeedimetla were suspended, with instructions to stop operations immediately.
Show-cause notices were also issued to three establishments, and further action, including penalties, was also imposed.