SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
Hyderabad: Telangana’s food and drug regulator has inspected 208 food and pharmacy establishments since August and cancelled 30 licences over violations ranging from unhygienic premises to the sale of analogue paneer and substandard medicines.
Avinash Mohanty, commissioner of the Telangana Standards Authority for Food and Essential Drugs (TG SAFE), told The Times of India that the crackdown began after the agency was formed in August by merging the state’s Food Safety and Drugs Control departments.
In one recent drive targeting sweets, khoya, paneer and other dairy products, TG SAFE inspected 46 establishments, suspended the licences of four over serious violations, and seized more than 19 tonnes of material. The state has also banned the manufacture, storage, transport and sale of analogue paneer.
On the pharmaceutical side, Mohanty said samples from pharmacies and wholesalers are tested at the Drugs Control Laboratory under TG SAFE. Since January 2025, 115 medicines have been found Not of Standard Quality (NSQ), triggering prosecution or licence action under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. When a marketed drug is found substandard, the Drug Control Administration’s licensing authorities issue recall orders.
TG SAFE currently sends 500-600 food samples for lab testing every month and is assessing whether more food safety officers are needed, Mohanty said. Inspections cover kitchen hygiene, food handler cleanliness, storage and temperature control, pest control, labelling and record-keeping, including how food waste is disposed of.
The commissioner said consumers who fall ill after eating at a restaurant or consuming a food product should complain directly to TG SAFE, which will investigate and act if samples test unsafe. “Punishments are stringent if unsafe food causes people to fall sick,” he said.
On additives, Mohanty said palm oil is permitted under India’s food regulatory framework, and only certain natural and synthetic colours are allowed within prescribed limits; unauthorised colours are checked during inspections. For cooking oil, he flagged Total Polar Compounds (TPC) as the key safety marker, oil with TPC above 25 percent should not be reused for frying.
Around 609 food business operators in Telangana have received ratings under the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI) Hygiene Rating Scheme so far, and TG SAFE is encouraging more outlets to enrol.
On whether customers can demand to inspect a restaurant’s kitchen, Mohanty said the Food Safety and Standards Act does not currently grant that right, though the department will examine the possibility with FSSAI. He also said mandatory CCTV cameras in restaurants are not currently required under the law but that the idea could be considered for high-risk or large establishments. Mandating branded raw materials is not permitted either, the law only requires that ingredients meet FSSAI standards.
Mohanty added that mobile food-testing laboratories would be expanded for faster field-level screening, with suspect samples sent for detailed lab analysis.
SOURCE : SIASAT
