Illegal mineral water plants on FDA radar

Nashik: The Nashik Food and the Drug Administration (FDA) has stepped up its efforts of gathering information about illegal mineral water plants in the district.
Senior officials said in the backdrop of drought in many parts of the district as well as the summer season, the demand for mineral water was more. However, the FDA suspects that quite a few people could have started bottling plain water and selling it is as mineral water without purifying it or carrying out the necessary tests.
One such plant was raided by the Nashik FDA last week in Dindori, from where approximately 3,500 one litre water bottles were seized.Food safety officer Vivek Patil said, "We have stopped the manufacturing process at the plant. We have also sent samples of the bottled water to the state public health laboratory in Pune for further investigation."
Blue Bird water bottling plant in Dindori was selling mineral water under the brand name Oxyrill. Officials said the factory had not procured any kind of permission from the FDA for setting up the unit and selling water in the market. At the time of the raid, FDA officials, including Patil and Amit Raksar, found that no standard procedure of purifying and disinfecting the water was being adhered to.
Officials said bottled water manufacturing units have to conduct various tests necessary for ensuring the purity of water. However, the plant had very few testing equipment.
The person operating the unit has been barred from bottling and selling water in the market. Officials said there was no provision in the FDA under which such persons could be arrested.
In the backdrop of the summer season and water shortage, many people prefer mineral water, which is available at any store, shop, restaurant or roadside dhabha. People who travel frequently prefer mineral water bottles than relying on the water available in villages or hotels. Such one litre water bottles are sold for Rs 20 each. However, people who do not acquire any permission from the FDA hardly incur any manufacturing cost on disinfecting or purifying water. Officials have alerted their informants to keep a close watch on water bottles or pouches that came from the units that did not have the FDA's permission.