Gautam Budh Nagar: Crackdown over food safety violations raises ₹64 lakh as fines
NOIDA: The Gautam Budh Nagar administration's crackdown against food safety violations has led to slapping of fines worth ₹64.6 lakh in total after the authorities came across cases in localities like Dadri, Khurja, Surajpur, Rabupura, Sector 130, Sector 58, and even urban sectors of Noida like Sector 16 and Sector 18, officials said on Thursday.
A total of 19 food business operators were penalised between April and May following violations under the Food Safety and Standards Act. The major violations included misbranding, misleading labelling, and sale of substandard or expired food items, such as biscuits, dairy products, and packaged snacks. Several businesses also failed to comply with mandatory food safety standards, they added.
'Our team regularly conducts inspections and sampling to ensure that food products sold in the district meet safety and quality standards. In these cases, after detailed investigation and laboratory analysis, legal proceedings were initiated as per the Food Safety and Standards Act. The court, after hearing the matters, has imposed penalties accordingly,' said Gautam Budh Nagar's assistant commissioner of food (second) Sarvesh Mishra.
In April, four businesses were fined a total of ₹90,000 and in May 15 firms and individuals were penalised with fines totalling ₹63,70,000. The most significant fine of ₹14 lakh was imposed on a packaged food company in Sector 58, for misbranding related to butter cream rolls, officials said.
The penalties were slapped by additional district magistrate (administration) Mangalesh Dubey, the adjudicating officer, under the Food Safety and Standards Act.
A multinational beverage manufacturer faced a penalty of ₹6 lakh over lapses detected at their Surajpur Industrial Area facility. Similarly, a retail chain operating in Sector 16, was fined ₹25,000 for stocking misbranded food items. Another multinational dairy and packaged food firm was penalised ₹25,000 for non-compliance observed at its Dadri outlet.
Officials said that several smaller and mid-level firms were penalised for serious lapses.
Some of the samples dated back to 2018 and 2019, highlighting how long-pending enforcement actions are now being addressed through legal proceedings, they added.
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