In a joint operation, officials of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), along with Vigilance and Enforcement (V&E) and Revenue departments, conducted raids on various spices, ghee and oil manufacturing units in the city on Tuesday.
The teams inspected the oil mills, ghee preparing and packing industries and spices making units in Old Raja Rajeswari Peta and Ajit Singh Nagar areas. The food safety officials collected samples of the raw material and the finished products, said Assistant Food Controller N. Purnachandra Rao.
“Some traders were preparing ghee and oil with sub-standard raw material. The samples would be sent to laboratory for examination and action would be taken based on the reports”, said Vigilance officer G. Kalyan.
In Ajit Singh Nagar, Indira Naik Nagar and other areas, some food and spices manufacturing units were preparing chilli powder, turmeric and some spices with spurious material and marketing the products in the name of different brands.
Four teams conducted raids on the restaurants, oil traders, ghee and spices manufacturing units and collected samples, said MRO M. Madhuri.
The accused were allegedly supplying the spurious food products to Krishna, West Godavari, Guntur and other places.
“We seized samples of biryani, cow and buffalo ghee, some non-vegetarian dishes, edible oil and other eatables. The teams are enquiring on the source of the spurious material, the labels and where the packing material was printed and other information,” Mr. Purnachandra Rao said.