Rohtak: Food supplements found dumped in canal – The Tribune India

Tribune News Service

Ravinder Saini

Rohtak, February 18

Food supplements and other drugs have been found dumped in a canal passing near Mayna village here raising the possibility of illegal trade of dietary supplements.

Local officials of the Food and Drug Administration Department visited the spot to inquire about the case.

The matter came to the fore when volunteers of Suno Nahro Ki Pukar, a special campaign to motivate people not to dump anything in the canal went there to clean the canal.

They found packets of supplement capsules and powder floating on the water.

We spotted around 500 small packets of food supplements floating on the water. Many were also lying on the bank of the canal. It seems that these have reached here from other places. While the date of best use of many supplements has already expired, many others are about to expire in the coming days, said Dr Jasmer Hooda, Assistant Professor, All-India Jat Heroes Memorial College, Rohtak.

Hooda, who is leading the campaign, informed that a man who was on evening walk there told the volunteers that such packets had been floating on the water for the past two days. These are used in body building.

Deepak Chhara, an environmentalist and another participant in the campaign, said they felt pain on finding garbage and other materials dumped in the canal whose water was supplied to houses every day.

We do not know when people will stop it but our campaign will continue to make them aware about it, he added.

An official of Food and Drug Administration Department, on the condition of anonymity, informed that they inspected the spot today to take stock of the situation. The information about dumping of food supplements will be sent to DCOs of adjoining districts from where the canal passes through, he added.

Dr Harsh Kumari, Food Safety Officer, said she had not got any information about dietary supplements being dumped in the canal. There is a procedure to dispose of supplements after expiry date. These are returned to the company concerned. Hence, it is illegal to dump supplements into the canal. We will look into the matter if any complaint comes, she said, adding that surprise inspections at regular intervals were conducted at sale counters of food supplements.

Most beyond expiry date

We spotted around 500 small packets of food supplements floating on the water. Many were also lying on the bank of the canal. While the date of best use of many supplements has already expired, many others are about to expire in the coming days. Dr Jasmer Hooda, assistant professor

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Rohtak: Food supplements found dumped in canal - The Tribune India