Food safety inspections were conducted in Jhargram and East Midnapore during the festival season, with officials checking hygiene practices at a famous jalebi outlet in Harada and a range of food businesses at Chaitanyapur market. The drives resulted in hygiene instructions, notices and the collection of food samples for testing.
In Harada village under Binpur-II block of Jhargram district, Food Safety Department officials inspected the preparation of the area’s well-known jalebis ahead of Lakshmi Puja. The inspection was led by district food safety officer Suman Das, whose team examined the preparation process, ingredients, cleanliness and hygiene practices at the outlet.
Officials said they did not find any irregularity in the jalebi-making process. The jalebis are prepared with rice and urad dal flour rather than gram flour, and officials said no artificial colour was being used. However, the department instructed workers to wear caps and gloves while preparing the sweets.
The inspection came as Harada sees a large seasonal demand for its traditional jalebis. Local sources cited in the report claimed that around four tonnes are sold daily during the festival period, while total sales over approximately 21 days exceed 200 quintals. The jalebi is priced at Rs 110 per kilogram.
The seasonal trade is linked to Harada’s long-standing Lakshmi Puja tradition. A single shop receives the right to sell jalebis through a local bidding process connected with the village temple. This year, Sintu Saha secured the contract for Rs 3,91,600. Long queues reportedly form during the festival, and online booking through WhatsApp has been introduced to manage demand.
Saha said officials had inspected the outlet and that regular monitoring of food businesses was useful. The department’s instructions therefore focused on maintaining cleanliness during preparation rather than on stopping sales or reporting a violation at the jalebi shop.
A separate joint inspection was conducted in Chaitanyapur market in neighbouring East Midnapore by the Food Safety Department and Sutahata police. The drive covered small restaurants, hotels, food outlets, sweet shops and stalls selling spiced puffed rice along both sides of Chaitanyapur Road.
Officials found stale curry, rotten meat, stale and spoiled sweets, milk and curd, as well as food colours being used at some establishments. In one instance, stale food had reportedly been wrapped in polythene and stored inside a refrigerator. The inspection also recorded cut vegetables kept in an untidy manner, unclean kitchens, flies on food and dirty dustbins.
The kitchens of several sweet shops were also found to be unclean, and stale sweets were detected. The department collected multiple food samples and issued notices to the businesses during the first phase of enforcement. The establishments were given seven days to improve food quality and hygiene conditions.
Food safety officer Shrabani Saha said the notices covered small restaurants, food shops, hotels and sweet shops in Chaitanyapur market. She said the department would take appropriate action if conditions did not change within the specified period, while the collected samples would be sent for testing. The seven-day compliance period and laboratory examination of the samples are the next recorded steps in the enforcement process.
