Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy has raised serious concerns over rising food adulteration cases in Telangana, revealing that harmful substances like textile dyes, artificial colours, talcum powder, and rice bran oil are being mixed into spices to boost their colour, weight, and market value. He urged the Telangana government to take immediate and strict action on this issue, stressing that it is directly linked to public health.
Mr Reddy said the central government, through FSSAI, has notified 17 primary and 5 referral laboratories under the Hyderabad zone, covering Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, to test food quality. He said, the Centre has released 11.68 crore rupees to Telangana under the “Strengthening of Food Testing System” scheme, with an additional 23.37 crore rupees also approved. He explained these funds will be used to buy advanced testing equipment, strengthen lab infrastructure, hire staff, set up microbiology labs, and support mobile food testing labs and rapid testing kits. He added that Telangana currently has 8 mobile food testing labs in operation. He also spoke about FSSAI’s nationwide “Food Safety Mitras” network, which will help with licensing, training, and audits in schools, colleges, and workplaces.
