Budgam: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Jammu and Kashmir, has seized and destroyed approximately 1,600 kg of buffalo meat at Budgam Railway Station after detecting violations of food safety requirements relating to declaration, transportation and maintenance of prescribed cold-chain conditions.
The enforcement action was carried out jointly by the FDA, Railway Police, railway authorities and the District Administration Budgam following specific information received from railway authorities about the transportation of the meat consignment.
According to the FDA, an inspection by the Food Safety team found that adequate refrigeration or dry ice arrangements had not been made to maintain the prescribed transportation temperature of minus 18 degrees Celsius or below. The absence of proper temperature-control arrangements was found to be a violation of mandatory cold-chain requirements for transporting meat.
The consignment was subsequently subjected to preliminary testing through the department’s Food Safety on Wheels facility, which indicated that the meat was unfit for human consumption.
Following the findings, the entire consignment, weighing approximately 1,600 kg, was seized and destroyed in accordance with the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and prescribed procedures for disposal of food articles deemed unfit for human consumption.
The latest action comes after an earlier enforcement operation in which food safety authorities had seized approximately 2,600 kg of meat in Srinagar.
The FDA said it was maintaining surveillance across all districts to prevent the transportation, distribution and sale of unsafe and non-compliant food commodities. It added that legal action would be initiated against violators under the Food Safety and Standards Act and the rules and regulations framed under it.
The department has also urged consumers to remain vigilant and report cases involving the sale or distribution of unsafe or adulterated food through its official email address, cfsjandk.fnd@jk.gov.in.
