Kashmir’s food chain exposed: 2500 kebabs, 150 kg goshtabas, 1000 kg unsafe meat confiscated

Srinagar, Aug 7: The non-veg platter of Kashmir is under the scrutiny of authorities, with more and more categories being declared unsafe and discarded over the past week.

The Food Safety authorities confiscated 1000 kg of unfit meat, in addition to 150 kg of Goshtaba and 2500 kebabs.

The intensified drive on meat, brought in from outside J&K, has caused flutters among food business operators (FBOs) and resulted in mass-scale illegal dumping of meat and meat products.

Commissioner Food Safety, Drug and Food Control Organisation, Smita Sethi said, “On Thursday, around 1000 kg of meat were found dumped in Kakapora, Pulwama and Khanday Colony, Srinagar.”

She said that due to the ongoing crackdown on storage facilities for meat as a referral laboratory in Ghaziabad, as well as suppliers and distributors, many defaulting FBOs have resorted to illegal disposal of meat that was not in good condition. These meats are being supplied to various food outlets in Kashmir.

Not just improperly stored raw meat, the enforcement drives have also uncovered dangerous preparations.

An official said 2500 kebabs were recovered from the Safa Kadal and Parimpora area of Srinagar.

These Kebabs had been prepared using frozen meat and contained non-permitted food colours. The non-permitted food colours, Carmisine, Tartrazine, and Erythrosine, are known to cause serious health conditions in humans.

Sethi said around 150 kg of Goshtaba were also seized during multiple raids.

The teams from the Food Wing of D&FCO have been on an intensified campaign to inspect the supply chain of meats and meat products in Kashmir, as well as the quality of meat products being sold in the market.

Earlier in the week, a referral lab in Ghaziabad, after testing many snacks lifted from the markets of Kashmir, found that unsafe and dangerous colours had been used in them.

An official in the department said that unapproved colours in food pose an unseen, silent threat and could be linked to many diseases in Kashmir.

“People must work on their obsession with brightly coloured food items. Natural colour of food must be sought and only that food consumed,” he said.