With the peak summer setting in over the city, the demand for packaged drinking water has increased. The Tamil Nadu Food Safety Department, Chennai, has started cracking down on packaged drinking water for the past few days following complaints on unauthorised manufacturing units.
On Monday, four teams checked vehicles laden with 20-litre bubble tops in various parts of the city, including Koyambedu, Vadapalani, Egmore and Korukkupet. Nearly 1,920 cans being transported for consumption were checked and teams seized 106 cans as they did not have labels or were packed in soiled containers.
At present, there are nearly 425 packaged drinking water manufacturing units in Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts.
R.Kathiravan, designated officer, Tamil Nadu Food Safety Department, Chennai, said manufacturing units are required to get the licence from Bureau of Indian Standards and also a mandatory food safety licence to operate the units.
“We checked the cans for licences, labels, batch number and also the condition of the containers. We received complaints about mushrooming of unauthorised units selling drinking water.”
He also pointed out that nearly 165 bubble tops were seized for similar reasons such as no proper label or licence number.
The department plans to continue checks until the weekend throughout the city.
On Monday, four teams checked vehicles laden with 20-litre bubble tops in various parts of the city, including Koyambedu, Vadapalani, Egmore and Korukkupet. Nearly 1,920 cans being transported for consumption were checked and teams seized 106 cans as they did not have labels or were packed in soiled containers.
At present, there are nearly 425 packaged drinking water manufacturing units in Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts.
R.Kathiravan, designated officer, Tamil Nadu Food Safety Department, Chennai, said manufacturing units are required to get the licence from Bureau of Indian Standards and also a mandatory food safety licence to operate the units.
“We checked the cans for licences, labels, batch number and also the condition of the containers. We received complaints about mushrooming of unauthorised units selling drinking water.”
He also pointed out that nearly 165 bubble tops were seized for similar reasons such as no proper label or licence number.
The department plans to continue checks until the weekend throughout the city.