Illegal ice cream and popsicle unit in Bagalkot’s Navanagar raises health concerns

BAGALKOT: An unauthorised unit making ice cream and popsicles (ice candy) has been operating from Sector 5 of Navanagar here and selling the ice cream and popsicles without any brand name. A reality check by Public TV also revealed unhygenic conditions in which the ice popsicles are prepared.

The unit is run from a tin shed and no cleanliness is maintained. Various chemicals, colouring and flavouring agents are being used, raising health concerns. Also, the popsicles are prepared with dirty water.

The unit manufactures ice popsicles of orange, chocolate, vanilla, mango, pista and other flavours. The refrigerators were teeming with worms and pieces of rubber. Despite this, the health authorities seem to have turned a Nelson’s eye.

Riyaz Kalaburagi, who runs the unit, however, claimed that the popsicle unit had been closed for about a week as the family had to attend a wedding. He also claimed that all the equipment and utensils in the unit are cleaned and only then the ice popsicles are prepared. He also blamed the drainage work going on nearby for the mess in the shed.