The Solapur Food and Drug Administration has seized 14,852.6 kilograms of edible oil, sweets, dairy products, savouries and spices valued at Rs 32.56 lakh during a special food safety inspection campaign conducted ahead of Diwali. The seized stock was suspected to be substandard, while laboratory reports on the samples collected during the inspections are still awaited.
The campaign was conducted between October 28 and November 6 across 25 food establishments in Solapur district. Officials collected 69 samples for analysis, including edible oil, sweets, khava, cream, paneer, peda, namkeen products and spices. The administration said further action would be taken according to law after the laboratory reports are received.
The inspections covered establishments in Akkalkot, Sangola and South Solapur. At Rangoli Sweet Mart in Pirajade Plot, Akkalkot city, officials collected samples of peda and sweet halwa and seized 829 kilograms of stock valued at Rs 2,50,020 after suspecting that it was of inferior quality.
At Shriraj Agro Tech on Mahud Road in Sangola, three edible oil samples were collected and 3,146.8 kilograms of stock valued at Rs 6,29,360 was seized. At S. G. Traders in Gavdewadi, Kandalgaon, in South Solapur taluka, officials collected three oil samples and seized 6,235.4 kilograms of stock valued at Rs 10,60,599.
Officials also inspected Ganesh Ramchandra Apte Private Limited at Antroli in South Solapur taluka, where four samples of cream and paneer were collected. The action resulted in the seizure of 2,216 kilograms of stock valued at Rs 7,13,700.
The inspections focused on the quality of food ingredients, storage conditions, hygiene, edible oil, colours and other inputs used by food businesses. Assistant Commissioner Sahebrao Desai said the administration had stepped up vigilance during the Diwali period to reduce the risk posed by adulterated, substandard or openly stored food products.
Desai said food businesses must comply with the requirements of the Food Safety and Standards Act. The administration has indicated that inspections of food establishments will continue, and that violations identified during subsequent checks will attract action under the applicable rules.
The campaign was carried out under the guidance of Food Safety Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe, Pune Division Joint Commissioner Shrikant Karkale and Solapur Assistant Commissioner S. A. Desai. Food safety officers Nandini Hiremath, Renuka Patil, Mangesh Lawate, Ganesh Kadam, Kirtide Deshmukh and Utkarsh Ekande participated in the inspections. The next formal step in the cases is the receipt of laboratory reports and action based on their findings.
