Chennai, Oct 26 (IANS): Tamil Nadu's Department of Food Safety and Drug Administration has warned all sweet shops and bakeries across the state to maintain hygiene ahead of Diwali.
The Department also urged the establishments to ensure that social distancing norms are maintained in accordance with the standard protocols against Covid-19.
District officials of the Department have conducted surprise inspections in several sweet shops.
The Food and Safety department has warned all sweet shops to maintain cleanliness and ensure that all workmen must take two doses of Covid vaccine and wear hygienic clothes, fully cover their head as well as use gloves during packing of sweets.
The Tamil Nadu government had made it mandatory for all sweet shops, including temporary makeshift shops, that record increased footfall during Diwali must possess a license from the Food and Safety department.
According to the Food and Safety department, for 1 kg of sweet, 100 mg colouring agent could be used and the silver foil which is used for covering the sweet has to be in food grade. One made from animal origin is not permitted.
The Food and Safety department has made it mandatory that if the sweets and savouries are in packed food boxes, they must contain the name of the food item, name and address of the manufacturers with contact number and the date of manufacturing or packaging.
The department wants the manufacturers to display the batch number, net weight, MRP, best before use date, vegetarian or non-vegetarian symbol, FSSAI license, information on colour additives like preservatives, list of ingredients and details of colouring agents used.
The Food and Safety department has sent a circular to all licensed sweet manufacturers and shops to strictly adhere to the directives given by the department and if any malpractices are found out, the license of the manufacturer or shop concerned will be cancelled.
The crackdown by the Food and Safety department is not being taken lightly by the manufacturers and bakers, and most say that rather than ensuring clean food, the crackdown can lead to corruption in certain areas.
A baker from Kerala, who is running a successful chain of eateries in Chennai and surrounding areas, told IANS, "The food industry of Tamil Nadu has been providing decent food, including during the Diwali season, and I don't know why the sudden circular and other measures directed by the Food and Safety department.
"A proper food safety check is required and all shops must be inspected but beyond that it would lead to a certain level of corruption and the Vigilance department must be prepared for any such situation."