LUCKNOW, Sept. 25 -- The Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) has launched a statewide crackdown on misleading health claims and regulatory violations in the nutraceutical and health supplement trade, inspecting 63 establishments across 13 districts in the past one week and seizing products worth about Rs.1 crore suspected of violating prescribed norms. The joint operation by mobile food squads and drug inspectors covered manufacturers, re-labellers and wholesalers in Agra, Barabanki, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Jhansi, Prayagraj, Moradabad, Lucknow, Bareilly, Hathras, Mathura, Gorakhpur and Varanasi. Teams collected 43 samples for examination. The inspections went beyond finished products, with officials checking raw-material sources, purchase records, stocks, manufacturing and storage conditions, labelling, health claims, hygiene and sanitation and validity of licences. Of the 63 establishments inspected, 18 were operational while 45 were found closed or non-operational. In Lucknow, Rs.39.50 lakh worth of products was seized and five samples were collected. Officials reported misbranding, misleading claims and extremely poor hygiene and sanitation. At one establishment, three nutraceutical products were found stored alongside allopathic medicines. The team also examined its relabelling, marketing and packing activities. In Gorakhpur, Rs.27 lakh worth of goods were seized and three samples were collected. In Jhansi, officials collected 13 samples from an establishment and found 161 sacks of expired food items. In Gautam Buddh Nagar, products worth Rs.6 lakh were seized over unsatisfactory storage conditions, while in Ghaziabad, Rs.27 lakh worth of goods were seized and three samples collected over alleged misbranding and misleading claims. Where violations were considered rectifiable, improvement notices were issued. In serious cases, suspension or cancellation of licences has been recommended. FSDA commissioner Roshan Jacob said that enforcement would continue against products making misleading claims, quick cures or disease prevention. The Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration is preparing a tighter regulatory framework for nutraceuticals (products derived from food sources with extra health benefits), with a particular focus on preventing the misuse of licences and detecting prohibited substances such as untested steroids and hormones in products sold as health supplements....