Ahead of the Uttarayan festival, the Amdavad Municipal Corporation’s (AMC) food department has intensified inspections across the city, collecting 22 food samples and sealing a popular eatery in Nikol over hygiene violations.
During inspections conducted on Tuesday, officials collected 16 samples of jalebi and six samples of undhiyu from various areas for laboratory testing. The drive is part of routine pre-festival checks aimed at preventing the sale of stale or unsafe food during the festive rush.
A well-known outlet, Das Khaman, located opposite Sanidhya Park in Nikol, was sealed after inspectors found unhygienic conditions in the kitchen and storage areas. Officials reported heavy accumulation of dirt in the kitchen, storeroom and food preparation zones, along with food containers allegedly stored in low-quality plastic bags. The conditions were termed a serious threat to public health, prompting immediate closure of the unit.
Inspections were also carried out at sweet and farsan shops in Jodhpur, Gota, Navrangpura, Maninagar, Shahibaug, Kalupur, Madhupura, Amraiwadi, Odhav, Sardarnagar and Indrapuri. All collected samples have been sent to the Public Health Laboratory, with test reports expected within two weeks.
AMC officials said that while large quantities of jalebi and undhiyu are likely to be sold during the festival period, on-the-spot rapid tests did not detect any artificial colouring in the samples checked.
Samples were taken from several well-known outlets, including Swad Gathiya Rath (Gota), Naveen Chawana and Sweet (Navrangpura), Saurashtra Farsan House (Kalupur), Mahalaxmi Chawana and Sweet Mart (Naranpura), Devras Namkeen and Sweet (Jodhpur), Mehta Sweet (Maninagar), Lucknow Jalebi (Raipur) and Shreeji Khaman House (Madhupura), among others.