KATHMANDU, Jan 27: Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has announced plans to take action against vendors selling substandard 'Cotton Candy'. On Friday, KMC issued a notice stating that vendors found selling substandard food items, including cotton candy, will face fines ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000.
The notice cites the authority granted by Section 30 of the Market Management and Monitoring Act 2077, under which these fines will be imposed. The initiative follows KMC's collection of cotton candy samples aimed at children from Ward No. 7, Chabahil Chowk. These samples were sent to the National Food and Grain Reference Laboratory for testing on January 15.
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The laboratory's report revealed the presence of 'Rhodamine B', a non-edible colorant, in the samples, prompting KMC to prepare for stringent action. Awadhesh Kumar Jha, Head of the Agriculture and Livestock Department at KMC, mentioned that no manufacturing industry for these products was found during market monitoring. "We are preparing for a complete ban. However, no manufacturing industry was discovered during our inspections. There seems to be significant sales here, but now we will stop the sale of cotton candy,” he said.
Deputy Mayor and Metropolitan Market Monitoring Committee Coordinator Sunita Dangol urged consumers to prioritize quality when purchasing food for children. KMC has advised consumers to buy food products only after checking labels for essential information such as production date, best before date, maximum price, and food license.
