Food Safety Violations Found in Hyderabad Nutraceutical Units
The Telangana State Food Safety Task Force recently conducted inspections at nutraceutical manufacturing units in IDA Mallapur, uncovering numerous safety violations. The raids were carried out on November 20 and 21, targeting two companies: Vin Biomed and Nuvista Pharmaceutical Pvt Ltd.
During the inspection at Vin Biomed on November 20, authorities discovered multiple offenses. Raw materials, including food color mixtures, essences, and cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12), were found to be expired and past their best-before dates. These expired materials were promptly discarded to ensure consumer safety.
In addition, the task force found 500 kilograms of chocolate powder and 500 kilograms of vanilla powder on-site. These ingredients lacked essential labeling, such as manufacturing dates, expiry dates, FSSAI license details, and logos, violating food safety regulations.
The authorities also seized six kilograms of Co-Enzyme Q10 powder valued at Rs. 50,000 because it did not display a valid FSSAI license on its label. Similarly, 17 kilograms of MK cocoa powder worth Rs. 6,800 were confiscated for failing to include an FSSAI license and batch number on the packaging.
Further investigations revealed that Vin Biomed did not have an internal testing laboratory for quality checks. Moreover, the company was unable to provide test reports for the food articles it manufactured, raising additional concerns about compliance with safety standards.
