New Delhi, October 23 — The Delhi government on Friday stepped up inspections of stores advertising heavy discounts on social media during the festive season and seized over 322 kg of ghee for further testing for adulteration, The Hindu reported. The Food Safety Department conducted targeted inspections of stores promoting offers such as 'Buy One, Get One Free' and discounts of up to 60 per cent through social media reels.

Source: The Hindu

According to the department, its teams inspected two stores in Vikaspuri, where they collected five enforcement samples of ghee from different brands and five surveillance samples of other food products, and seized 75.53 litres of ghee. At another store in Hastal village, the team collected three enforcement samples of ghee from three different brands and seized 246 kg of ghee — taking the total seized in the drive to over 322 kg, PTI reported.

Source: PTI via Inshorts

Surveillance samples of other food products, including confectionery, makhana, turmeric, biscuits and candies, were also collected for laboratory analysis. The department said shortcomings in compliance with food safety standards were recorded at the establishments inspected, and that the findings would be reviewed along with the laboratory test reports before further action is taken. "Further action will be taken in the respective cases in accordance with the law," the department said.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said in a statement that compromising on food quality or people's health would not be acceptable, and that her government was working to curb irregularities such as adulteration, substandard quality, the sale of expired products and incorrect labelling. "Consumers should remain vigilant and check the quality and packaging of food products, along with their manufacturing date and expiry date, before making a purchase," she said.

Officials said the drive was aimed at checking compliance with food safety standards and preventing the sale of unsafe, substandard, expired or incorrectly labelled food products during the festive season, when demand for ghee and other food items rises sharply. The seized ghee has been sent for testing; whether any of it was adulterated will be known only after the laboratory reports.