Ban on ‘halal’ products leads to raids by FSDA teams in UP

Lucknow, Nov 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) The units of Food Safety and Drugs Authority (FSDA) continue to inspect and seize products after the Uttar Pradesh government banned companies issuing halal certification in the state.

While a statewide review has been scheduled for Thursday, districts continued to make search exercises in various places.

In Lucknow, the FSDA team led by assistant food commissioner S.P. Singh seized material worth over Rs 26,000 from four places.

Likewise, the FSDA team in Prayagraj also inspected various outlets.

Assistant commissioner, food, Mamta led the teams that scanned 95 places over the past two days.

In the raids, samples worth Rs 6,500 were seized and sent to the lab.

The products included baking soda, cocoa powder, ready to eat food items like veg burger patties and veg momos, besides some confectionery.

In Gorakhpur, food items worth Rs 40,000 were seized from different places in the city market.

Led by Hitendra Mohan Tripathi, the teams collected samples of items like noodles, toffees, coffee, brown sugar and edible curry mixes.

In Ayodhya, a team led by Manik Chandra Singh collected samples of packed spices from the market in the main city.

Similar raids were conducted in over two dozen districts including Kanpur, Ayodhya, Gautam Budh Nagar, Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Gorakhpur, Etawah, Auraiyya and Rae Bareli.

Drug inspectors also led the teams in some central districts and scanned medical stores where they seized materials like herbal tea and health juices.

In some places, however, no misbranded material was found.

In Kanpur, assistant commissioner (food) Vijay Pratap Singh and his team searched 19 places but returned empty handed.

Source: IANS