THE GOAN NETWORK
MAPUSA
The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has seized 225 kg of unlabeled frozen jamun, valued at around Rs 50,000, during an early-morning surveillance drive at the interstate Mapusa bus stand.
The FDA team checked around 30 buses as part of the drive to monitor food articles being transported into Goa. The frozen jamun was found in a consignment being transported from Pune to Mapusa through Atmaram, reportedly for a local hotel to be used in ice-cream preparations and distributed to other units.
According to the FDA, the local hotel that had booked the consignment did not possess a valid FSSAI registration. Action was consequently initiated under Section 69 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and a penalty of Rs 10,000 was imposed.
The FDA has also decided to write to the Maharashtra FDA seeking action against the Pune-based vendor for dispatching the food consignment without the mandatory labels. The seized stock was destroyed with the assistance of the Mapusa Municipal Council.
During the surveillance drive, the FDA team also directed two restaurants to stop operations after finding unhygienic conditions. Other food articles checked during the drive were found to be compliant with the prescribed norms.
In a separate action, the FDA's North Goa team suspended the operations of Blinkit and Instamart units in Porvorim and an Instamart unit in Taleigao over several operational and hygiene-related lapses. Notices have been issued to the concerned units, directing them to explain the violations and comply with the required food safety norms.
The FDA has also intensified inspections of milk products, particularly paneer and kalkand, to detect and crack down on the use of non-dairy analogues being sold as dairy products.
The department said the surveillance drives would continue across Goa and warned food business operators to strictly comply with food safety and hygiene requirements. Failure to comply could result in penalties and suspension of licences.
The surveillance team comprised Designated Officer Richard Noronha, Food Safety Officers Amit Mandrekar, Darlane Diukar and Ram Dhuri, along with staff members Sandeep Shelke and Sudhakar Parsekar. The drive was conducted under the guidance of FDA Director Shweta Dessai.
