Delhi’s Food Safety Department destroyed 922 kg of adulterated and spoiled food during inspections at sweet-making units in Nihal Vihar and Khoya Mandi in Mori Gate ahead of the festive season, officials said on Sunday. The department also collected food samples for laboratory testing and said legal action would follow against those violating safety norms.
The inspections in Nihal Vihar covered 13 premises, where teams destroyed 402 kg of food items, including 265 kg of rasgullas, 45 kg of chhena, 80 kg of milk cake and 12 kg of grated coconut. The department collected 14 samples, including rasgullas, chhena, milk cake, laddoos and paneer, for testing.
Officials inspected unlicensed rasgulla-making units, other sweet manufacturers and sweet shops, checking hygiene practices and the conditions in which food was prepared, handled and stored. The department said the operation was conducted on a holiday, with teams deployed simultaneously across different lanes to prevent establishments from receiving advance information.
The action also highlighted the difficulty of monitoring dispersed food-production units in dense urban neighbourhoods. During an earlier inspection in Nihal Vihar on August 26, officials had struggled to locate sweet-making establishments spread across multiple lanes. Only three premises were identified during that drive because several sweet makers had shut their shops, according to the department.
At Mori Gate Khoya Mandi, officials destroyed 520 kg of material, comprising around 370 kg of khoya and 150 kg of chhena. The products had been abandoned, were spoiled and were emitting a foul smell, officials said. Three khoya samples were collected for laboratory testing.
The Mori Gate operation follows an earlier inspection at the market on September 4 during Janmashtami, when the department said it destroyed around 3,050 kg of khoya and paneer. The repeated seizures at the market have placed wholesale food handling and storage conditions under continuing scrutiny as demand for festive sweets rises.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the department had been directed to continue surprise inspections, regular monitoring and sample testing during the festive season. “Action would be taken under the law against those violating food safety norms and putting public health at risk,” she said.
The department’s latest action combines immediate destruction of unsafe products with laboratory testing of collected samples. Further enforcement measures will depend on inspection findings and the results of those tests.
