Delhi’s food safety department has found expired food products in warehouses and dark stores and declared 19 of 59 desi ghee samples unsafe during an inspection drive conducted across the city this week. Four additional ghee samples were classified as substandard, while licences of establishments selling unsafe ghee were suspended and closure orders were issued, officials said.
The ghee samples were collected from different brands in markets and neighbourhoods including Naharpur, Posangipur, Laxmi Nagar, Preet Vihar, Rampura, Tagore Garden, Kalyanpuri, Krishna Vihar and Kondli. The findings were part of inspections covering food storage facilities, markets and establishments supplying products through online platforms.
At a facility in Uttam Nagar, officials found frozen green peas, Greek yoghurt, eggless chocolate-chip brownies and cow ghee products that had crossed their use-by dates. Some packets of sprouts, fruits and vegetables at the premises did not carry expiry dates, according to the inspection findings.
Officials also reported hygiene and storage violations at facilities in several parts of Delhi. At a premises in Wazirpur Industrial Area, inspectors found flies, mosquitoes and a lizard. Expired cold drinks and shikanji products were found during an inspection in Ghevra, while a facility in Jheel Khureja had shortcomings in maintaining the prescribed cold-storage temperature.
The Jheel Khureja premises also had cockroaches, spider webs, dirty and rusted racks, peeling wall surfaces and food products placed directly on the floor. Inspectors found products stored on top of spoiled food. In Asaf Ali Road and Daryaganj, food storage areas had dirty crates and dust, while rat traps were either insufficient or not positioned appropriately.
A Rohini store did not have arrangements to segregate food items, creating a risk of contamination between products, officials said. The inspections also identified expired food, pest presence, unhygienic storage conditions and inadequate temperature control at multiple establishments.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the food safety department had been directed to tighten monitoring of markets, food storage facilities and establishments supplying food through online platforms. “Action must be taken in accordance with the rules wherever food safety standards are violated,” she said, according to the statement issued by the chief minister’s office.
Gupta said the government’s objective was to ensure that families in Delhi had access to safe and quality food, adding that public health protection and accountability in the food trade remained government priorities. The chief minister’s office said action was being taken under the applicable rules.
Improvement notices have been issued to the establishments concerned. Officials said licences of establishments found to be selling unsafe ghee had been suspended and closure orders issued. The food safety department’s expanded monitoring will cover markets, storage facilities and food businesses supplying products through online platforms.
