Food safety officials did not find adulteration in any of the milk products sold by sweet shops in the capital during an inspection on Sunday, but some staffers at the shops weren’t wearing face masks, a practice that risks coronavirus infection of customers.

Ranchi food safety officer S.S. Kullu headed the inspection in the wake of Rakshabandhan, which will be celebrated on Monday. “There was no adulteration in food items. While I was impressed by the purity of the food, missing masks from faces of some staff members was a serious problem,” he said.

Kullu asked staff members and shop owners to religiously follow safety guidelines related to the Covid-19 pandemic, and warned them of consequences if any staffer was found not wearing face masks the next time.

“Almost all of them (staff) were carrying face masks, but some of them kept their masks in their pocket. Barring this practice, no other anomaly was found,” said Kullu.

Food safety officials conducted on-the-spot tests of edibles at more than a dozen popular sweet shops across the state capital on Sunday as the process of sending food samples to laboratories for test and getting the results takes at least 15 days, officials said.

“We conducted only on-the-spot tests today (Sunday). Only milk products were tested,” said Kullu, adding that only those shops were inspected which claim to sell pure milk products.

Long queues outside sweet shops was a common sight on Sunday as Ranchi residents moved out of their houses to buy sweets for Rakshabandhan. Most shops allowed a limited number of customers inside and asked others to wait for their turn in order to maintain social distancing.