Tightening the noose on suppliers of spurious milk and milk items including desi ghee, cheese, dairy whitener and curd, teams of the health department conducted raids and collected nine samples from three places in Ludhiana and Sangrur on Wednesday and Thursday.

The teams found that cheese was being sold at Rs 190 per kg when the market rate is around Rs 300 per kg. The chain of this entire illegal activity is attached to Rajasthan from where the milk was being transported, officials said.

The raids were conducted in Sangrur on Wednesday night, while the teams collected samples from Tajpur road and area near Bus stand in Ludhiana on Thursday morning.

The team was led by assistant commissioner Amritpal Singh Sodhi including food safety officers Sandeep singh and Yogesh Goyal. In total, nine samples of desi ghee, biscuits, dairy whitener, instant tea, milk, cow milk, cheese and curd were collected and sent for testing.

Andesh Kang, deputy director of food and drug administration, Punjab, said, “The raids were conducted following a tip off and it is suspected that inferior quality milk was being transported to a village in Sangrur from Rajasthan. The cheese was also being sold at very low rates. The samples have been collected and sent to laboratory for testing,”

Food business operators directed to get themselves registered to avoid action

District health officer Rajesh Garg has directed food business operators to get their food safety licence and registration done with the department failing which action will be taken against the establishment. For this, an application can be submitted online at www.foodlicensing.fssai.gov.in and the fee can be paid online.

Food business operators including owners of restaurants, hotels and bakeries should ensure cleanliness in the kitchens and the chefs and workers should masks.

Officials said that in June, 2020, 79 samples of food items were collected of which two samples of desi ghee were found unsafe for consumption and 6-7 samples were of sub standard quality. In July, around 70 samples collected from bakeries, liquor vends, grocery etc, have been sent for testing.