Tamil Nadu: FSSAI cracks down on manufacture, sale of non-licensed drinks

Notably, a 13-year-old girl collapsed and died at her residence in Besant Nagar in Chennai last year in August after consuming an aerated drink that she bought from a local grocery store.

The post-mortem report revealed that the girl asphyxiated after the drink entered her respiratory system. The shop that sold the product was shut down and the food safety department temporarily closed the manufacturing unit of the aerated drink.

In the past few years, there have been several instances of children developing symptoms of nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and dyspnoea after consuming non-licensed aerated drinks.

Speaking to indianexpress.com, Dr Satheesh Kumar, designated officer for food safety in Chennai, said: “We are checking if the shops have proper FSSAI license to sell these packaged products. One main issue is that such shops often keep the bottled drinks in a way that they get exposed to the sun. This, in turn, changes their formula. Some shopkeepers keep such products on the road as they do not have enough space inside their stores. We have asked the shopkeepers to keep the products inside the shops. Anything found outside the store will be confiscated and appropriate action against the shop would be taken.”

Kumar added that the department will try to make the public more aware of the harmful impacts of such products.

“Ice pops sold to children for Rs 2 or 5 are more dangerous than bottled drinks. Such items do not have the manufacturer’s name or the expiry date. We have seized several such products and will continue our drive,” he said.

Child rights activist A Devaneyan said FSSAI officials need to seize the products before they reach the shops.

“Consuming an aerated drink itself is harmful for children’s health. Any food product that has added artificial colours should not be given to children. On top of it, these non-branded, locally manufactured products cause serious damage to their health. None of the products has an expiry date and the composition of these items is not listed. The food safety department should act before any untoward incident happens. The parents should inform the children about the harmful impacts of these products,” he said.

He added that a special helpline number should be set up for the public to raise complaints regarding the sale of such products.

Meanwhile, the IMD said that Vellore recorded the highest temperature of 42.3 degree Celsius in the state Monday. It was followed by Tiruttani (41.9 degree Celsius), Tiruchirapalli (40.7 degree Celsius) and Karur (40.2 degree Celsius). Whereas, Chennai recorded 38.4 degree Celsius, 1.4 degree Celsius above the normal temperature. The weather department has said that the maximum temperature in the state capital might cross the 40-degree-Celsius mark in the next seven days.