Delhi food safety inspections ahead of the festive season have found signs of pest activity, poor hygiene, unsafe storage practices and documentation gaps at sweet manufacturing units and related establishments across the capital. The food safety department also collected samples of sweets and other products for laboratory testing, with further action to follow based on the reports.
The inspections identified pest activity in a storage area at a sweet house in Okhla Phase-II, where inspectors also found that a water testing report was unavailable. At a unit in Naraina, employees were reportedly handling food without gloves. Inspectors also found open dustbins at another establishment in the area and noted that food items were not properly stored in a freezer at a unit in IP Extension.
The department said the inspections covered shortcomings in hygiene, cleanliness, food storage and compliance with prescribed food safety standards. In Badli Industrial Area, two establishments did not display FSSAI licences, food-handler training records and packaging-related documentation.
Several other lapses were recorded in Naraina. One unit had employees’ clothes kept in the work area and lacked insect-proof mesh on its windows. Water and product testing reports were unavailable there. At another unit, inspectors found cobwebs on a chimney, inadequate measures to prevent pest entry and no designated space for employees to keep personal belongings. A prepared premix was also not labelled with its manufacturing date.
At the IP Extension unit, inspectors noted peeling ceiling plaster, missing insect-proof mesh on windows and grease accumulation on the exhaust system. Food items kept in the freezer were not properly segregated or labelled. The department also reported unsatisfactory hygiene and cleanliness at a sweet manufacturing unit in Vidya Vihar’s Hastsal Industrial Area, while an outlet in Uttam Nagar was marked as needing improvement.
In Chandni Chowk, inspectors recorded several hygiene and cleanliness shortcomings. Two manufacturing units in Narela Industrial Complex were found to have lapses in compliance with prescribed standards. The inspection findings did not mention specific hygiene lapses at establishments where samples were collected in Chandni Chowk, Mathura Road, Okhla and Patparganj Industrial Area.
The samples collected included khoya, rasbhari, barfi, milk cake, boondi dana, kesar rasbhari, aloo bhujia, ghee, palak boondi, boondi laddoos, kaju bites, kaju barfi and khajoor barfi. Inspectors also collected samples of yellow-coloured rasmalai and fat emulsion used in cake preparation, along with pista barfi, khoya, kesar peda, almonds and peda from other locations.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said food businesses must take responsibility for hygiene, safe storage, employee training and proper food-handling practices. The department said decisions on further action against the sampled products would be taken after the laboratory test reports are received.
