Shopkeepers selling sweets as officials wait for reports
KARNAL: Be careful before you gulp down the mouth-watering sweets during this festival season as there is no confirmation from the health department as to whether these eatables are safe or adulterated.
Though officials have done their duty and collected samples of sweets and milk products a week before the festival season, they do not have any report to confirm that the sweets are not injurious to health.
The report, in fact, is expected to come in the next three weeks. The authorities will be able to take action against those guilty of adulteration only when the reports come, but till then the latter would have sold their entire stock of sweets.
Officials of the health department said there are not many laboratories to test all the samples and it takes three weeks to procure the report of a sample from the lab in Chandigarh.
“There should be more labs so that adulteration can be detected within a day or two and action taken immediately,” said a senior officer of the Haryana health department, on the condition of anonymity.
“We can just collect samples and warn them, but we cannot stop them from selling the adulterated sweets until we get the report,” he added.
Moreover, the sources said, there is no provision for strict action against those accused of adulteration as they just spared after imposition of a fine by the additional deputy commissioner concerned.
Even in case of misbranding, the health authorities issue a one-month notice to the accused, giving them an opportunity to apply to the designated officercum-district health officer for getting their samples retested from the Referral Food Laboratory, Ghaziabad.
As per reports, 30 to 50 samples of sweets have been collected in each district by officials of the health department and the CM’s flying squad during the past one week. These samples were sent to a lab in Chandigarh and reports are awaited.
Talking to Hindustan Times, Karnal chief medical officer (CM O) Yo ge sh S harm a said ,“We have collected 38 samples in the past two weeks and these were sent to the lab. However, no action has been taken so far as the report will come in the next one or two weeks.”
He, however, said raids by health officials for collection of samples help in checking adulteration and sweet makers maintain cleanliness under fear.
Similarly, about 50 samples were collected from Kurukshetra district since October 10, but officials are awaiting the reports that will come after Diwali.
› n There are not many laboratories to test all the samples and it takes three weeks to procure the report of a sample from the lab in Chandigarh
A HEALTH OFFICIAL, › We collected 38 samples in the past two weeks and these were sent to the lab. However, action can be taken only the reports come.
YOGESH SHARMA , CMO, Karnal