Telangana is moving towards establishing a unified Food Safety and Drug Control Department to strengthen action against food adulteration and narcotics across the State. Director General of Police C.V. Anand said the proposed department would function under a single authority with dedicated enforcement, legal, forensic and prosecution wings, aiming to improve coordination and speed up investigations.
The proposal comes after the Hyderabad Food Administration and Safety Task Force (H-FAST) registered 185 food adulteration cases and seized over 121.8 tonnes of suspected adulterated, expired and unhygienic food products during citywide enforcement drives. Major seizures included 60 tonnes of chicken waste, 27 tonnes of ginger-garlic paste, 25.8 tonnes of artificially ripened fruits, 15 tonnes of chicken and meat, 9.2 tonnes of pickles, besides khova, paneer, tea powder, ghee, cream and curd.
H-FAST has also booked cases against ice cream manufacturers, water bottling units, bakeries, restaurants, fast-food centres, spice traders, sweet shops and other food businesses for food safety violations. In addition, 247 cases were referred to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Food Safety Officers for further action, with paneer outlets accounting for the highest number of violations.
Authorities also received 90 public complaints through H-FAST’s toll-free helpline, covering issues related to paneer, meat, frozen chicken, seafood, bakeries, water plants, spices, chocolates and online grocery platforms.
Officials have now intensified inspections of ghee outlets in Hyderabad, while the proposed State-level department is expected to expand H-FAST’s enforcement model across Telangana to tackle food adulteration and protect public healthhealth.
