Telangana’s food safety authority has seized 1,950 kg of pheni valued at ₹2.30 lakh during a special enforcement drive in Hyderabad ahead of the Dasara and Diwali festive season. TG SAFE said its teams found suspected adulteration, hygiene failures, licensing violations and unsafe storage practices at food manufacturing and retail establishments across the city.
Twelve enforcement teams comprising Food Safety Officers and police personnel inspected 12 establishments on October 8. The checks covered units in Attapur, Jiyaguda, Charminar, Begum Bazar, Moosarambagh and Badangpet, where pheni, khara and other festive food products were being manufactured or sold.
Officials lifted 12 samples for laboratory testing after suspecting adulteration in the seized pheni. The authority said the seizure was linked to labelling violations and quality concerns. The final status of the samples will determine whether further action is required on the suspected adulteration.
The inspections also found establishments operating with retail-category licences instead of manufacturing licences. TG SAFE reported unhygienic premises, improper storage of food articles and inadequate personal hygiene among food handlers. Several workers were found wearing half-sleeved clothing and not using hairnets, according to the enforcement findings.
Officials also reported spitting stains from gutka and pan masala at multiple establishments, food articles stored directly on floors without proper covering, housefly infestation and failures to maintain pest-control and food-handler health records. Food articles contaminated with extraneous matter, including gutka and pan masala packets, were discarded at the locations.
Anjani Foods and Peni Works at Bharath Nagar in Jiyaguda was ordered to stop operations after officials found that it was operating without an FSSAI licence and under unhygienic conditions. TG SAFE has also suspended the FSSAI licences of five establishments and directed them to stop operations immediately in the interest of public health.
Show-cause notices are to be issued to six establishments, with further action proposed for imposing penalties. The 12 samples collected during the inspections remain central to the next stage of action, as laboratory findings will establish whether the suspected quality violations amount to confirmed adulteration.
