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Food Safety Department in Salem urges caution while buying sweets
The Hindu
Salem The Food Safety Department officials cautioned the public while buying sweets and savouries f
The Food Safety Department officials cautioned the public while buying sweets and savouries for the Deepavali festival and urged them to verify the oil used to prepare the items. They should avoid sweets which look colourish as they contain artificial colour than the permitted level.
Usually during the Deepavali festival season in Salem district, new varieties of sweets or savoury items will be sold in more than 300 sweet and bakery shops with special offers.
Apart from this, catering firms and cooks used to rent small marriage halls and sell their items for the festival for one week. As prices in these places are lower compared to shops, poor and middle-class people used to buy sweets from these catering firms and cooks. Likewise, people who run Deepavali chits would also prepare sweets to distribute to their customers.
Kathiravan, Salem District Designated Officer for Food Safety Department, stated that people who prepare sweets, whether they are small producers or large shops, should obtain a licence from the department.
The allowed colour level in sweets and savoury items is 100 parts per million (PPM) for one kg. The silver leaf in the sweets should only be food-grade. The packed sweet boxes should contain details like the name of the item, name and address of the manufacturer with the contact number, date of manufacturing or packaging, batch or lot number, net weight, MRP, best before or use by date, vegetarian or non-vegetarian logo, FSSAI licence number, list of ingredients, nutritional information, information about food additives like preservatives, colouring agents, flavors, etc., name of the country from which it was imported, and instructions for use, Mr. Kathiravan added.
“Even if sweets are displayed in trays, a small board with manufacturing and expiry dates should be displayed before the sweets or savories. The general public shall send a picture to the Food Safety Department WhatsApp number 94440-42322 to complain about the poor quality items,” Mr. Kathiravan said.
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