Adulteration in food items has become rampant. Not to speak of food items like milk and milk products, oils, ghee and condiments etc. even fruits and vegetables are given some sort of unhealthy chemical treatment to make them appear ripe which they in reality are not. The classic case of M/s Khyber Agro Farms Pvt. Ltd for making adulterated food items can be cited in this context. It shows how selfish persons and organizations play havoc with the health of the people. In a landmark judgment the Judicial Magistrate (Sub-Judge) Budgam, Imtiaz Ahmad Lone, imposed Rs 9 lakh as fine and awarded 6 months imprisonment to M/s Khyber Agro Farms Pvt. Ltd for manufacturing sub-standard, miss-branded and unsafe food items and directed for lifting of food samples from this company for testing. The Magistrate has passed strictures against Food Analyst Kashmir and accused him of conniving at the crime of adulteration of food. In its judgment the court observed that the Food Analyst Kashmir has given clean chit in favour of the accused company and in favour of the other companies. It has to be noted that the High Court of the State had already imposed Rs 10 crore penalties on the company for finding various food items of the accused company as substandard and adulterated. In order to prevent further consuming of adulterated and substandard food items by the general public, the court directed Commissioner Food Safety to collect the samples of all food items of the company and other companies for testing.
This is a typical case of a company with huge financial assets caught indulging in providing adulterated food items to the people without qualms of conscience.
We would entreat the Food Commissioner to take due notice of the Khyber Industries case and ensure that adulterated food items are not bought to the market to cause damage to public health. Government machinery has to move fast in this direction.
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