Punjab: 6,500 kg of spurious sweets, milk items seized in 10 days

Vishav Bharti

Chandigarh, November 8

In the past 10 days, the food safety wing of Punjab’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has seized over 6,500 kg of khoya and sweets, which were unfit for human consumption. Around 30 per cent of these came from Haryana and Rajasthan.

As per data compiled by the FDA, between October 29 and November 7, 6,532 kg of sweets and milk products were seized across the state. The biggest seizure was 2,550 kg of spurious desi ghee in Faridkot. It was being made from refined and vanaspati oil.

1,392 kg milk cake seized from Moga

• The biggest recovery was made from Moga, where 1,392 kg of milk cake had been delivered from Jodhpur
• It was delivered at half of the actual cost. The Food and Drug Administrationhas sent the samples to a lab for testing
• In Mohali district, 670 kg of kalakand was seized, which had been procured from Haryana

The adulterated milk products making their way from the neighbouring states is also a cause for concern. Of the seized items, around 2,052 kg came from the neighbouring states. The biggest such recovery was made from Moga, where 1,392 kg of milk cake was delivered from Jodhpur. It was delivered at half of the actual cost. The FDA has sent the samples to a lab. Apart from that, in Mohali, 670 kg of kalakand was seized procured from Haryana.

Commissioner, FDA, Dr Abhinav Trikha said to control and check inter-district and inter-state supply of milk and milk products, especially khoya, early morning and late evening hour drives were also being conducted by food safety officials.

The seizure of paneer and petha were made from Amritsar, Bathinda, Muktsar and Faridkot districts.

To ensure the purity of milk, milk products and sweets amid the ongoing festival season, the FDA has collected around 1,000 samples during October only, which include 43 samples of khoya, 97 sweets, 92 of coloured sweets, 27 of paneer, 112 of coloured bakery items, 104 of dry fruits and 389 of various food items for analysis. Further legal action is being initiated against the violators as per the report of analysis received from the State Food Laboratory.