JSR admin conducts food quality checks in eateries

Jamshedpur: Think twice before you wish to savour your favourite samosa, litti choka, kebab, momo or chicken roll at your favourite food joint as the city administration during a recent surprise check found that the ingredients used in the preparations were unhealthy. The sub-standard raw materials used for the dishes are not only restricted to the street food vendors but also at many upscale restaurants located across the city, the checks found.
Dhalbhum sub-divisional officer (SDO) Piyush Sinha said the administration was conducting surprise checks to ensure healthy food for the residents. Reports of the food samples tested revealed that many food stalls and restaurant owners were using sub-standard spices, edible oils, ghee, flour, rice powder, paneer and other raw materials for making the dishes. Those found guilty will not be spared, the SDO said.

The checks were carried out on a random basis across the city, where the footfall of food lovers remains high. Similar checks will continue, he added. Such checks are generally conducted by the health department officials before festivals like Holi and Diwali every year. Earlier checks too have revealed the usage of sub-standard materials for preparation of food items and sweets.
Paediatrician Dr Joy Bhaduri said, “Parents should discourage their kids from consuming food items being sold on the streets as well as at the restaurants as the latter are always profit driven and might compromise with the quality of the materials being used to make the dishes. The elders should try to make the dishes at home for better health of the family members.”
Roy, also the treasurer of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Jamshedpur chapter, warned that often raw materials, like ajinomoto or Chinese salt, used to make food items tasty at hotels contain chemicals such as Monosodium Glutamate which are highly toxic, even carcinogenic in nature. Consumption of chemicals through food items from a very tender age can impact brain development among children, he said. With mercury again going north in the city, stomach ailments and fever have become common. Cases of jaundice and typhoid also see an upward swing during this period. So, everyone has to be extra careful about their eating habits, Dr Bhaduri asserted.