KMC Raids Bowbazar, Destroys Spoiled Sweets

With Durga Puja approaching, Kolkata’s food-safety checks have intensified, and the latest inspection at Bowbazar’s well-known Paneer Patti has raised fresh concerns over the quality and hygiene of food being sold in the city.

On Monday, September 7, a Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) team carried out a food-safety inspection in the Bowbazar area. During the operation, officials found spoiled khoya-kheer and chhanar cake, which were subsequently taken away for destruction. The action comes amid a wider drive by civic and health authorities to check food quality, storage practices and hygiene standards across the city.

The Bowbazar action is significant because the area is closely associated with Kolkata’s traditional dairy and sweet-making trade. The discovery of food considered unfit for consumption has once again put the spotlight on how perishable products such as chhana, khoya and milk-based sweets are stored and handled before reaching consumers.

The latest raid is not an isolated operation. Over the past few days, KMC and state health authorities have stepped up inspections at restaurants, sweet shops, food outlets and other establishments across Kolkata and elsewhere in West Bengal. Officials have been checking kitchens, refrigerators, raw materials, food-storage conditions and basic hygiene practices.

The wider campaign has already uncovered several instances of food-safety violations. In one recent inspection, officials found stale and potentially unsafe meat and seafood at a restaurant in Tangra, while inspections elsewhere revealed expired products, poor storage conditions and unhygienic food-preparation areas. At Dacres Lane, another KMC inspection resulted in cooked food and sweets being destroyed after officials found them unsuitable from a food-safety perspective.

The scale of the ongoing drive has also been notable. According to recent reports, more than 2,300 restaurants, hotels, food outlets and food-processing establishments across West Bengal have been inspected in the latest phase of the campaign. Thirteen establishments have reportedly been temporarily closed or sealed, while licences of five food establishments have been suspended. Food samples have also been collected for laboratory testing.

Officials have particularly emphasised the importance of proper labelling and storage. Food items kept in refrigerators or sold in packaged form are expected to carry information such as preparation or packing dates and use-by or expiry dates. Recent inspections have found instances where such information was missing, making it difficult to establish how long certain food items had been stored.

The timing of the intensified inspections is also significant. With Durga Puja only weeks away, the demand for sweets, restaurant food and festive delicacies is expected to rise sharply. Authorities are therefore attempting to ensure that increased consumer demand does not come at the expense of food safety and hygiene.

The Bowbazar raid has added another local example to a much wider food-safety crackdown. While the destruction of spoiled khoya-kheer and chhanar cake may appear limited to one market area, it highlights a larger concern: how safely are Kolkata’s highly perishable dairy products being prepared, stored and sold during the festive season?

With inspections expected to continue, more establishments could come under the civic body’s surveillance in the days ahead. The focus now remains on ensuring that the food reaching consumers during the Puja season meets basic safety and hygiene standards.