Duplicate sweets, ghee seized worth ₹8.94 lakh in Banaskantha

As the festive season approaches, there is growing concern over the declining quality of milk-based sweets and other confectionery products. Despite paying high prices, consumers are getting sub-par, duplicate products in Gujarat.

In the raids initiated in two cities in Banaskantha district, the food and drug control administration (FDCA) encountered sub-par quality ghee, duplicate kinds of milk solids (maava), and low-quality sweets.

Ghee factory raided 

On the evening of Nov 5, a raid was executed at Padmanath Food Products in Deesa. The ghee samples from this factory were sent for testing, suspecting a sub-par ‘Shashwat premium ghee’. It is said to have a mixture of vegetable ghee (vanaspati ghee) in it.

The factory owner had allegedly installed a CCTV camera around half a kilometre away from the factory to get a prior alert of any raid.

The food department has seized 567 litres of ghee worth ₹2.47 lakh.

Adulterated mithai seized

Moreover, the FDCA has also raided M Khandelwal Dairy Products in Palanpur.

After checking, 152 bags of a product labelled ‘Indian sweet’ weighing ₹25 kg were found.

The maava was allegedly duplicated and was made with vegetable ghee and milk powder. The duplicate maava was sold at ₹180 per kg to other sweet traders as a raw material.

Dr H G Koshia, commissioner at FDCA in Gujarat, said, “According to the Food Safety and Standards Act, the packaging of maava was not labelled properly with date of manufacturing, batch number, manufacturer’s name, address, expiry date, etc. A total of 3,849 kg of adulterated maava worth ₹6.45 lakh was seized. Legal action will be taken after the arrival of the results of maava and ghee testing.”

In Mahemdavad, suspected sub-par oil and ghee were seized from the Balaji marketing factory in Varsola. The food department of Kheda district has sent samples for testing in the laboratory. Reports claim that this factory supplied adulterated ghee to Ambaji Temple.

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