Officials from 4 govt depts hold joint raid to ensure food quality

BALURGHAT: In a pre-Christmas drive, officials from four government departments conducted a joint operation on Thursday evening in Balurghat town to check the quality of food sold in various establishments. Representatives from the Consumer Protection Office, Health department, Legal Metrology and District Enforcement Branch inspected sweet shops, restaurants and bakeries in areas such as New Market, Sadhana

More and Narayanpur. During the inspection, some shops were found selling substandard food, prompting officials to issue warnings to the shop owners. A few establishments were also fined.

Additionally, several shops were found using outdated weighing machines, for which warnings were also issued.

Manojit Raha, Deputy Assistant Director of the Consumer Protection Office, South Dinajpur, who was part of the team, said: “Such raids are conducted 2-4 times a year to raise public awareness and caution shop owners. With Christmas approaching, we focused primarily on cake shops, along with other eateries and sweet shops. Some shops have improved in maintaining food quality and hygiene but many still violate food safety standards.

We have made it clear that negligence in this regard will not be tolerated. Strict action will be taken if further violations are observed in the future.” “The drive aims to ensure safe and hygienic food for consumers during the festive season,” he added.