Ranchi, Mar 23 (PTI) Thirteen restaurants and sweet shops in Ranchi were served notices as their products failed in quality tests, an official said on Saturday.

Adulteration and synthetic colour were detected in various food items at these restaurants and sweet shops, he said.

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The Food Safety Department has been carrying out an intensive drive in Ranchi ahead of Holi to ensure that people get safe food items, he said.

Food Safety Officer Subir Ranjan told PTI that they tested 168 samples from 40 big sweet shops and restaurants in the city over the last three days.

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"Out of 168, we found adulteration in 21 samples. Synthetic colour, 'metanil yellow', was found in some coloured sweets. Adulteration was found in milk products such as paneer and khowa, while synthetic colour was mainly found in laddu and jalebi," Ranjan said.

Many shopkeepers were also found violating other safety parameters such as cleanliness, he said.

"Notices were served to owners of 13 sweet shops and restaurants. They will soon be penalised," he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)