Contaminated Soft Drinks Flood the Market – Greedy Traders Play with Lives
Kakatpur, 09/09: In the Kakatpur and Astaranga blocks of Puri district, several unauthorized and unlicensed factories are blatantly producing fake water pouches, mineral water, and a variety of soft and soda drinks. It seems there is no regulation or control from the district or local police administration.
These fake beverages are being produced without any license or proper testing, and yet, no action is being taken by the district administration against the owners of these illegal factories or the shopkeepers selling them. This has led to growing public dissatisfaction. According to a reputed local doctor, consumption of such fake cold drinks is causing various stomach-related illnesses among consumers.
In most shops, water pouches and bottles from different companies are being sold, but questions are being raised as to whether these companies are complying with government safety and packaging guidelines. Many of these water brands in the market lack crucial information such as manufacturing and expiry dates.
Some unscrupulous business owners are reportedly buying branded empty bottles and wrappers, and then, in unhygienic and unhealthy conditions, they mix contaminated water with different flavors and gases before sealing the bottles to sell them in the market. These counterfeit products resemble genuine brands, making it difficult for the public to identify them.
To manufacture and sell drinking water and cold beverages, there are multiple government norms and certifications required—like a company’s trademark, water testing certificate, lab certification, qualification, BSI, ISI marks, and food license. The products must be clean, transparent, pure, colorless, and odorless. However, these so-called fake companies ignore all such criteria and simply hang a fake food license on the wall to make their factory appear legitimate while continuing their business unchecked for years.
Customers have complained that after a few days of use, these water pouches and cold drink bottles start emitting bad odors and have an unusual taste. It is mandatory to send samples of such products to BIS-certified labs for quality testing before they are packaged, but because of the high cost involved, these fake companies skip this essential step.
Instead, they manage to obtain a food license from the district health department by some means and have been running their unauthorized business freely for a long time. Intellectuals and locals have expressed concerns and urged the district administration and local police to take notice and form a dedicated task force to conduct sudden raids on such illegal water and soft drink factories. Collecting and testing product samples will help determine the actual purity and quality of these beverages being consumed by the public.
