Cancer-causing chemicals found in Pani Puri samples across K'taka, 22% found unfit for consumption
Bengaluru: Recent food safety inspections in Karnataka have unveiled alarming findings regarding the popular street food, Pani Puri. Officials reported that 22% of the 260 Pani Puri samples collected from various outlets failed safety standards due to the presence of hazardous chemicals.
According to Srinivas K, Commissioner for Food Safety, complaints led to the investigation into Pani Puri quality statewide. The samples, ranging from roadside stalls to upscale eateries, revealed concerning levels of artificial colors and carcinogenic agents. Chemicals like brilliant blue, sunset yellow, and tartrazine, known to pose health risks, were detected in 41 samples. Additionally, 18 samples were deemed unfit for human consumption due to their stale condition.
In response to these findings, Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao reiterated the government's commitment to food safety. Earlier actions included banning Rhodamine-B, a food coloring agent prevalent in dishes like gobi manchurian and cotton candy. Minister Gundu Rao also spoke on the importance of public awareness and restaurant accountability in maintaining food hygiene standards.
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BJP to field Muslim candidate in UP assembly election for first time
Lucknow: In a politically significant development, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is planning to field a Muslim candidate in the upcoming assembly bypoll for the Kundarki seat in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh. This move marks the first time the BJP will field a Muslim candidate in an assembly election in the state.
The Kundarki seat became vacant after the incumbent Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA, Zia Ur Rehman, was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Sambhal constituency. Sources indicate that the BJP is considering a senior Muslim functionary from within its ranks for the bypoll.
A top BJP official confirmed to The Times of India that the party’s organizational leadership is in contact with a Muslim party member. “The state leadership will consider all aspects before finalizing his name and sending it to the central leadership for final approval,” the official stated.
Muslims constitute approximately 60% of the electorate in Kundarki, a seat the BJP has never won. The BJP's decision to field a Muslim candidate is seen as a strategic move to counter the opposition, primarily the SP-Congress alliance, and to consolidate votes in the upcoming bypolls on ten seats.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP fielded Abdul Salam, former vice-chancellor of Calicut University, from the Malappuram seat in Kerala. Although Salam lost to ET Mohammad Basheer of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the decision reflected the party’s attempt to reach out to Muslim voters.
In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP last backed a Muslim candidate, Haider Ali, in the 2022 state elections from the Suar assembly seat in Rampur on an Apna Dal ticket, an ally. Ali lost to SP’s Abdullah Azam by over 60,000 votes. Previously, in the 1998 Lok Sabha elections, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi won from Rampur but lost the seat in 1999 to Congress’s Begum Noor Bano. Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, another senior Muslim BJP leader, won the Kishanganj seat in Bihar in the same year and was later inducted into the Vajpayee government.
The bypolls are seen as a crucial battle of prestige for both the BJP and the SP-Congress combine as they gear up for the 2027 assembly elections. By-elections are also due in Karhal, Katehari, Milkipur, Khair, Sisamau, Phulpur, Majahwan, Ghaziabad, and Meerapur. The BJP previously won Khair, Phulpur, and Ghaziabad, while the SP held Katehari, Karhal, Milkipur, Sisamau, and Kundarki. Meerapur and Majahwan were won by BJP allies, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and the NISHAD party, respectively.
