The Karnataka Food Safety and Drug Administration inspected 45 ice cream manufacturing units on Thursday and seized expired ingredients from two Bengaluru facilities, while also reporting hygiene and labelling violations at units in Karnataka. The department has initiated further legal action under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, and related regulations.
At Savara Ice Cream Café in Jayanagar 3rd Block, officials seized expired food products including Britannia biscuits, Nandini Samrudhi milk, tea and coffee mixes, and desiccated coconut powder. At M N Enterprises in Bilekahalli, off Bannerghatta Road, inspectors seized expired plain caramel, Nestlé Milkmaid and Milky Mist khoa. The Bilekahalli unit also had labelling deficiencies, according to the department.
The inspection drive extended beyond Bengaluru. Officials found unhygienic conditions at Gemini Ice Cream Manufacturing Unit in Raichur and issued a notice to the facility. At John Candy Ice Cream Manufacturing Unit in Mysuru, inspectors detected labelling-related deficiencies and seized ice cream products worth Rs 20,000.
The department collected 70 samples during Thursday’s inspections, including ice cream, milk, milk powder, flavouring substances, sugar, food additives and other raw materials. The samples have been sent to government laboratories to assess their quality and compliance with prescribed food-safety standards. Results of the laboratory tests have not yet been reported.
The action is part of an intensified food-safety enforcement drive across Karnataka. The inspections were conducted on the directions of health and family welfare minister U T Khader, with the state FDA expanding checks across the food supply chain since launching a wider crackdown in August.
The broader inspections have covered star hotels, restaurants, food storage and distribution facilities, quick-commerce warehouses, government canteens and paying guest accommodations. Earlier checks in Bengaluru found expired meat and dairy products, rotten vegetables, used cooking oil and unhygienic food-handling conditions at hotels and other establishments.
In September, officials also seized expired and mislabelled food products worth crores of rupees during inspections of storage and distribution facilities, including facilities linked to quick-commerce platforms. The wider enforcement effort places manufacturing, storage, distribution and retail points within the same food-safety chain rather than treating consumer-facing establishments in isolation.
The Karnataka FDA said further legal action would be initiated against the units found to have violated food-safety requirements and that inspections would continue across the state. The laboratory findings from the 70 samples will determine whether additional action is required in the cases examined during Thursday’s drive.
