A day after samples of 'prasad' being sold at the Baba Balak Nath temple here were found unfit for consumption, its management on Wednesday closed the canteen and said its services will be outsourced.

"Services of one canteen of the (temple) trust have already been outsourced. The process of outsourcing the services of the second canteen is underway," said Barsar Sub-Divisional Magistrate Rajendra Gautam, who is also the chairman of Baba Balak Nath temple trust, Deotsidh.

This canteen has been closed, he said, adding that the tender process for outsourcing the services will be expedited.

The Food Safety Department sent samples of 'rotes' sold as 'prasad' at Baba Balak Nath temple trust shop for testing to the Composite Testing Laboratory, Kandaghat in Solan district two months ago. The samples were found unfit for consumption.

Samples of 'rotes' taken from a private shop also failed the tests.

'Rotes', made of wheat, sugar and ghee, are prepared in bulk and sold over many days. Therefore, they get stale, according to officials.

The main canteen selling 'prasad' was run by the temple trust since its inception and was doing good business.

About 50-75 lakh people visit the Baba Balak Nath temple every year and offer 'rotes', sweets and other things.

Hamirpur Deputy Commissioner Amarjit Singh said the health department will organise camps for all those selling 'rotes' and 'prasad' to create awareness about food safety measures.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has sought details of the test results of the 'prasad' samples from the temple and asked Hamirpur district authorities to ensure that quality 'rotes' are provided to devotees.

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