By Imteshal Karim

Copyright odishatv

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation BMC has in the past week destroyed nearly 100 kilograms of stale food and imposed fines totalling Rs 15000 on eateries hotels and fast food vendors.
The action is part of an ongoing food safety drive launched to curb contamination during the monsoon season following reports of diarrhoeal outbreaks in several parts of the city as reported by The Times of India.
Inspections Conducted Across Multiple Locations
According to reports inspections were carried out at 17 locations in Bhubaneswar where food samples were collected for laboratory testing.
The results are awaited but items already found to be stale and stored in unhygienic conditions were destroyed on the spot. Over 200 food stalls and sweet shops were checked with particular attention to storage conditions in restaurants.
Vendors were cautioned against serving leftover food and repeat violations will attract closure notices in addition to penalties. Two dedicated teams including the Sanitation and Hygiene Inspection for Neat Environment SHINE unit and the food enforcement squad have been deployed to conduct checks across the city.
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Focus On Contamination Risks In Street Food
The latest inspections build on a series of raids carried out in June when large quantities of stale sweets and cooked food were seized from sweet shops and hotels in multiple wards.
At that time officials had destroyed expired bread stale fish and discoloured food items near SUM Hospital and other busy areas. Those raids followed diarrhoea cases reported in Niladri Vihar and Ghatikia prompting the BMC and Food Safety Department to step up enforcement across all 67 wards of Bhubaneswar.
Meanwhile as part of the current raids random checks are now targeting water quality and the use of unauthorised colours or preservatives as well as storage of stale materials for later use.