A recent inspection by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has shown that nearly 22% of pani puri samples collected from across the state did not meet safety standards. This comes a few days after food safety officials banned artificial colouring in kebabs, gobi manchurian and cotton candy. Recently, they inspected the pani puri stalls and even some well-known eateries.
The samples were collected from 79 places in Karnataka. Out of these, 41 were found to be unsafe because they contained artificial colours and even cancer-causing agents, as per a Deccan Herald report. Another 18 were considered to be of poor quality and unsafe for consumption.
Chemicals like Brilliant Blue, Sunset Yellow and Tartrazine were found in the samples collected by the department officials. Also Read: Food Authority Warns Against Artificial Ripening Of Fruits Using Calcium Carbide Speaking to the daily, Srinivas K, Commissioner of Food Safety, said that the decision to test the quality of pani puri was made after the authority received many complaints. Srinivas added that since pani puri is a popular chaat item, they received many complaints about its quality.
Samples were collected from all types of outlets, from roadside eateries to well-known restaurants, across Karnataka. The test results showed that a significant number of samples were unfit for consumption. The Commissioner of Food Safety added that officers are currently analysing the results to better understand the impac.
