Most food items in Punjab found unfit for consumption

Reports emerging from various districts based on a campaign launched a to test various eatables, soft drinks and other consumable goods by the Health Department of Punjab have indicated that most drinking water samples and food items are not fit for consumption.
Common forms of adulterants found in food products are artificially coloured foreign seeds in black pepper, sand, marbles and stones in foodgrains and pulses, artificially coloured saw dust in tea and white oil and petroleum products in edible oils and black pepper.
A report from Amritsar says that 43 per cent food samples collected by the Health Department have failed on quality parameters in the past three months. In Gurdaspur district, out of the 27 samples, including those of milk and allied products. two failed the test. In Pathankot district, of the 49 food samples collected in the last three months, four failed the tests, reported a leading daily from Chandigarh.
In Bathinda, 28 samples of water out of the total 206 failed the test. These had high bacteria content. The samples were collected from various government schools and water works. Samples of various fast food items and soft drinks have sent for testing.
In Patiala district, 16 of the 43 water samples collected failed the test. These samples were taken from residential areas, slums, water supplied by the municipal committee, etc.
The failed water samples mainly contained E Coli that often leads to gastroenteritis. The Health Department has issued notices to the departments concerned regarding the unclean water.
Moreover, the department collected 15 samples of cold drink, two of ice cream and four of packaged water in the past few days. While one of the samples of cold drink has failed the quality test, the reports of the others are awaited.