Beware of fake Hela Bojun food outlets! Agriculture Minister warns people

29 April 2023 12:00 am Views - 149

• ‘Hela Bojun’ outlets promote food prepared using  rice flour instead of wheat flour
• Counterfeit outlets using the name of Hela Bojun are  deceiving consumers and selling processed food

The Agriculture Ministry yesterday issued a statement requesting people not to be misled by fake private food stalls and wayside  eateries operating under the brand ‘Hela Bojun’ since the authentic ones  are run by it only to promote rice flour.  The Ministry said only it operates a chain of food outlets  called ‘Hela Bojun’ all over the island to promote food prepared using  rice flour instead of wheat flour.  “These Hela Bojun food outlets are a concept of the Ministry  of Agriculture, and information has been reported that other people are  also running food outlets under the same name.   

But the food at Hela Bojun outlets is prepared using 100 per cent local ingredients. The Hela Bojun outlets of the Ministry of  Agriculture do not sell food prepared using wheat flour at all. Only  nutritious food prepared using rice flour instead of wheat flour and  fruit drinks prepared without mixing sugar and drinks like Belimal and  Ranavara are sold.  

It is also prohibited to sell stale food and unheated food  items. Hela Bojun Food Centres provide ready-to-eat hot meals to  customers.  

Counterfeit outlets using the name of Hela Bojun are  deceiving consumers and selling processed food and stale food made from  wheat flour,” the statement said.   
For this reason, the Ministry of Agriculture is emphasizing  that except for the food outlets with the Hela Bojun name run by the  Ministry of Agriculture, the other places run using that name are not  government-owned Hela Bojun outlets at all.  

A discussion regarding this was held at the Ministry of  Agriculture, where  Minister Mr. Mahinda Amaraweera,  instructed the officials of the Ministry of Agriculture to conduct  constant monitoring activities to maintain the identity and quality of  the Hela Bojun outlets belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture.  

 Currently, a large number of people are consuming food  from Hela Bojun outlets belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture all  over the island.  
 But the officials point out that trust will be broken in these places too due to the fake Hela Bojun outlets run by some individuals.  

Therefore, among the places with the name of Hela Bojun,  the food is prepared using only rice flour only in outlets belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture. The minister said that  since the government has allocated 100 million rupees for the promotion  of Hela Bojun outlets this year, using that money it also advised to  make appropriate arrangements to maintain the quality of these outlets  network.        

• It is also prohibited to sell stale food and unheated food  items