Expired drugs, cosmetics worth Rs4 lakh seized from Jogeshwari shop

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has seized a huge stock of medicines and cosmetics past their expiry date from a shop in Jogeshwari. While an inquiry is on, the FDA has warned people to check the expiry date of any product before the purchase.

The FDA officials said their vigilance department received a tip-off regarding the sale of unsafe medicines and cosmetics in Jogeshwari. "We received the tip-off on a firm called Action Soap Centre, which dealt in medicines and cosmetics. We conducted a raid and recovered a stock worth Rs4,25,000," said an FDA officer. He said these products were being sold in the market to gullible customers.

The recovered stock included Oral B toothpaste, Olay's revitalising hydration cream, Vicks multi-pain relief gel and so on "Some of the cosmetics and creams had an expiry date of January 2015. It is unsafe to use such products but they were still being sold for monetary gains," said an officer.

The FDA also found out that the owner of the premises, Yusuf Khan, was not a licensed pharmacist and did not possess any necessary permits. Further investigation is being conducted under the supervision of Harsh Baijal, joint commissioner, Vigilance. The FDA, meanwhile, has requested people to check expiry dates of cosmetics and medicines before buying them.