TRICHY: The food safety department officials on Saturday night seized around 48,000 kg of misbranded rice bags from eight wholesale dealers and godowns in Trichy city. The contraband was estimated to cost Rs 30 lakhs. Local traders were caught for fallaciously labelling and packing rice bags imitating a major rice brand operating from Karnataka.
Food safety department officials said they received a complaint from Karnataka-based rice mill through the district administration. The producers have claimed that a section of shops and godowns in Trichy city are misusing their brand by packing locally procured rice and selling in their brand’s name and design.
On Saturday, eight teams from the food safety department headed by the district food safety officer Dr R Rameshbabu conducted inspections in eight retail and rice godowns across the city including Viswas Nagar and Gandhi Market vicinities. The teams in the synchronised inspection have found that an illegal unit carrying out their own local printing and packing of rice bags by misbranding the Karnataka based rice mill.
“We have collected seven legal samples from the rice bags for a laboratory study. Based on the result, we will register cases for the violations,” the food safety officer Dr Rameshbabu said. The godowns did not have a proper license for storing the rice while the labels in the rice bags were not as per the FSSAI standards, the food safety official added. Residents with complaints pertaining to food safety can lodge their grievances at 94440-42322 (WhatsApp).
