Srinagar/Jammu: The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), Jammu and Kashmir, has intensified its enforcement drive against food safety violations, inspecting 85 meat storage and processing units across the Union Territory and seizing and destroying 115 kg of paneer in Jammu for alleged violations of prescribed safety standards.
During the inspection drive, 16 improvement notices were issued to food business operators under Section 32 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, directing them to rectify deficiencies related to hygiene and sanitation. The department also recommended proceedings in 11 cases under Section 56 of the Act for alleged unhygienic and unsanitary food processing practices.
Four other cases were compounded, with a total fine of Rs 4,000 imposed. Section 56 provides for a penalty of up to Rs 1 lakh for processing or manufacturing food under unhygienic conditions.
The inspections followed the recent seizure and destruction of 1,600 kg of frozen buffalo meat at Budgam Railway Station.
In a separate enforcement action in Jammu, a Food Safety team, assisted by Nowabad Police, seized 115 kg of paneer from the premises of a food business operator identified as Vikas Sharma. The consignment, reportedly brought from Kathua district, was found to have been transported without maintaining prescribed temperature-control conditions.
The FDA subsequently suspended the operator’s registration issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The seized paneer was destroyed by the Jammu Municipal Corporation at its designated dumping site.
The department has directed food business operators dealing in meat, dairy products and other perishables to maintain proper hygiene, ensure temperature-controlled storage and transportation, preserve the cold chain and comply with prescribed labelling requirements.
Consumers have been urged to report the sale or distribution of unsafe or adulterated food through the FDA’s official email, cfsjandk.fnd@jk.gov.in.
