Filthy premises with rodents freely moving on and around the sweets and bakery products being prepared in factories speak a lot about how healthy the food sold in shops is. That is exactly what the Health department officials found during raids on city bakeries at Hallomajra on Tuesday. Four persons were challaned under the Epidemic Act and around 3500 kg of sweets and 500 kg of bakery products like pastries,patties,buns,bread,etc were destroyed as they were found unfit for human consumption. Teams from the UT Administration and Health department also found a boy below 14 years working in unhygienic conditions. Rats,cockroaches and flies were present in abundance and moving on the food that was to be sold. Dirty utensils were being used to prepare the items,and cream to be used for pastries was stored in dirty containers. At Friends Food Bakery in Hallomajra,a boy below 14 years was found working. A challan has been issued and proceedings would be initiated against the owner of the bakery and he has been asked to furnish age proof of the boy. The team also raided a factory in Kajheri owned by Amarjit Singh who runs Krishna Sweets in Sector 9,Panchkula. The sweets made in Kajheri were supplied to the shop. Officials said the factory premises were unhygienic and dirty. The labourers engaged in preparation of sweets lived within the factory. Since there was no separate washing area,dirty clothes were found hanging everywhere. Officials said rats and cockroaches were found everywhere,the premises did not appear to have been painted in a decade. The owner also did not have a license to run the factory. In all, 3500 kilos of sweets were destroyed from here. The bakery products from these factories were being supplied to the adjoining states.
