Telangana Food Safety Department conducts Statewide drive on cereal products

The Telangana Food Safety Department carried out a special enforcement drive focusing on cereal and cereal-based products across all 33 districts of the State on February 17 and 18. The exercise was aimed at checking compliance with food safety standards in the manufacturing, storage and sale of commonly consumed cereal products.

During the two-day drive, food safety officials inspected 122 establishments across all districts and took 270 samples for further analysis. The inspections revealed several violations, including the sale of misbranded and suspected substandard cereal products, labelling irregularities, and poor storage and hygiene practices at multiple outlets, the department said.

Based on the findings, immediate enforcement action was initiated. This included the seizure and discarding of unsafe food products, along with the issuance of improvement notices and show-cause notices to establishments found violating food safety norms.

In parallel with enforcement measures, the Telangana Food Safety Department has also been focusing on bringing unregistered food businesses into the regulatory fold. Food Safety Enforcement Officers conducted special registration camps for unregistered vendors during December and January, resulting in nearly 1,000 previously unregistered vendors being formally registered.

Officials clarified that registration is only the first step towards ensuring food safety compliance. They said that a structured follow-up mechanism is now being implemented to monitor registered vendors and ensure that food safety norms are adhered to in practice.