Expired food, mislabelling found at Bengaluru restaurant during Food Department inspection

Bengaluru, Sep 9 (AHN) Acting on a complaint, officials from the Karnataka Food Safety Department on Wednesday found several unhygienic conditions at the premises of a restaurant on Race Course Road here, during an inspection as part of an intensified crackdown on the storage and sale of expired food products, and reportedly directed it to close down.

During the inspection of the South Ruchi restaurant, officials found several expired food products stored at the premises, including one kg of coconut powder, one kg of sambar powder, 800 grams of South Ruchi chutney powder, 200 grams of rasam powder, and one packet of mushrooms.

Officials also detected instances of mislabelling involving several food products. These included five kg of jaggery powder, 45 kg of millets, two kg of ajwain seeds, and 121 kg of bucket jaggery.

The Food Department officials took note of the violations and initiated action against the establishment. Further details regarding the action taken under food safety regulations are awaited.

Health and Family Welfare Minister U.T. Khader had announced that the department had introduced QR codes and barcodes to help consumers verify products and urged social activists to create awareness among the public by disseminating information about the system in public places.

"I appeal to social activists to take the QR codes and barcodes to the public and create awareness. They should come forward and help strengthen the system," he said.

Khader said continuous inspections and public participation were essential to prevent expired and mislabelled food and medicines from reaching consumers through online and offline channels.

Khader said the Food Safety and Drug Safety departments would continue extensive inspections to prevent such practices and protect public health.

He said the government was also considering stronger legal measures against those who deliberately put people’s health at risk by selling expired or unsafe products.

"Anyone who cheats people in matters concerning their health and puts their health at risk should be dealt with under criminal law. There is a provision in this regard, and we are discussing the matter with the Law Department. We also want the Central government to look into this issue,” he said.

Khader had said repeated warnings, penalties and other regulatory measures had not been sufficient to deter some offenders from repeating such practices.