Jammu, Aug 7: The food safety crisis in Kashmir deepened on Wednesday as authorities seized two more consignments of rotten meat dumped on the outskirts of Srinagar, intensifying public concern over health risks and widespread violations of food safety regulations.
Dozens of unclaimed packages of decayed meat and poultry were found abandoned in the Nowgam and Pampore areas just days after over 1,200 kilograms of spoiled packaged mutton were confiscated from a cold storage facility in Srinagar’s Zakura Industrial Estate.
On the directions of Secretary of the Health & Medical Education Department and under the supervision of the Commissioner, Food & Drugs Administration (FDA) J&K, the Food Safety Department has stepped up enforcement across the Valley.
In the past two days, surprise inspections and raids were carried out in multiple districts. In Srinagar’s Safakadal and Parimpora areas alone, enforcement teams destroyed nearly 2,500 kababs processed with frozen meat laced with non-permitted food colours. An additional 150 kilograms of meatballs (gushtaba) were also seized, with samples sent for laboratory testing.
In Ganderbal district, approximately 250 kilograms of spoiled meat were destroyed on-site due to unhygienic storage and handle.
Officials said that in a desperate attempt to evade prosecution, some vendors have begun illegally dumping rotten meat at abandoned sites. Such cases were recently detected in Kakapora (Pulwama) and Khandey Colony (Nowgam, Srinagar).
Authorities urged vendors dealing in high-risk food items to strictly follow hygiene standards, cold chain protocols, and proper labeling.
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