Food Safety / Food Safety Crackdown Exposes Stale Sweets in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar, Aug 27: Amidst the festive spirit of Raksha Bandhan, the Food Safety Department has stepped up its vigilance in Bhubaneswar, launching surprise raids on sweet shops and restaurants. The inspections uncovered disturbing lapses in hygiene and food safety standards, with officials seizing stale food, expired ingredients, and sweets stored in unhygienic conditions.

Raids revealed stale food, expired ingredients, and unhygienic storage conditions. At Raj Bhavan Square, one shop was fined ₹5,000, while another in Jagamara faced penalties of ₹6,000 and warnings of possible closure.

Officials expressed strong dissatisfaction after finding drums of sweets stored in dirty refrigerators.

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On Wednesday, similar operations in Balangir town, assisted by Sadar police, led to the collection of nine food samples for laboratory testing. Authorities destroyed four kilograms of stale food and 20 expired items, imposing fines of ₹2,000 on violators.

In Titilagarh, 13 samples including paneer, khua, chhena, and assorted sweets were seized. Nearly 20 kilograms of unhygienic food were destroyed, and shopkeepers were fined ₹8,500.

Combined, the raids across districts resulted in the collection of 22 food samples, destruction of over 24 kilograms of unsafe food, and fines totaling ₹10,500. Officials warned that strict legal action would follow if laboratory results confirm violations.