'Prasad' Sold At Hamirpur Temple Shop In Himachal Unfit To Consume: Report

Hamirpur: Samples of 'rotes' sold as 'prasad' at the Baba Balak Nath temple trust shop at Deothsidh in Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur district have been found to be unfit for consumption. Rotes are made of wheat, sugar and 'desi ghee' or vegetable oil, and are offered to Baba Balak Nath by the devotees as a customary practice.

About 50-75 lakh people visit the ancient and famous religious shrine of Baba Balak Nath every year. They pay their obeisance to Babaji and offer rotes, sweets and other articles to Baba Balak Nath.

Officials said complaints were being received about the quality of the rotes offered in the Deothsidh temple. Following this, the Food Safety Department lifted samples of rotes from the temple and sent them to Kandaghat lab in Solan district for testing.

The samples have been found to be unfit for eating, said officials on Tuesday. The report made it clear that the rotes being used as 'prasad' were stale and could be harmful for health. Assistant Commissioner Food and Safety Anil Sharma said according to the report, the samples of rotes failed and the department will take action according to guidelines.

Lakhs of people have been eating rotes as prasad, unaware of their quality. To add to it, people often keep the rotes in their house for several months and keep consuming it as prasad, said a devotee Mohan Singh from Hoshiyarpur.

Meanwhile, Hamirpur Deputy Commissioner (DC) Amarjit Singh has instructed the officers of the Food and Safety Department and other related departments to ensure that the quality of all food items in all the hotels, restaurants, dhabas, sweet shops, all other food shops, hostels and canteens of various institutions and mid-day meals remains according to the standards.

The DC, who was upset with the report of Kandaghat lab regarding the rotes being sold at Deothsidh, said licences of shopkeepers should be suspended immediately and legal action should be taken against them if any irregularity is found in any food shop or if any sample fails. He directed regular inspection and sampling of food items.

He gave these instructions while presiding over the meeting of the District Level Advisory Committee of the Food and Safety Department on Tuesday.

The DC also directed the officers to take quick steps to fully implement the 'Bhog' project which encourages the places of worship to adopt food safety and hygiene in preparing, serving and selling food, and to train food operators for basic food safety and hygiene.