Gujarat: FDCA notice to 45 'powdered' barfi units

Ahmedabad: If you’re planning to gorge on your favourite sweets and savoury snacks this Diwali, you may want to be extra cautious when buying the products. As a month-long drive by the teams of Gujarat Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) came to an end, huge stocks of barfi across some 45 factories in different parts of Gujarat was destroyed, as artificial mava and talcum powder was found to be used in these items.

All the 45 units have been slapped notices by the FDCA.

These units were mainly concentrated in Gandhinagar and Mehsana, along with other cities such as Surat, Bhavnagar, Vadodara, Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Godhra, Gandhinagar Rural and Junagadh.

Sharing more details, H G Koshia, commissioner, FDCA – Gujarat, said, “Mava is usually made from milk fat and costs around Rs 250 per kg. However, several of these manufacturers were found to be making artificial mava using skimmed milk powder, Vanaspati and sugar and are selling it at Rs 50 per kg. This is an eyewash. We cannot let consumers get cheated this way.”

FDCA officials forced manufacturers to stop production at all these factories, while imposing hefty penalties. “Out of the 45 manufacturers, two units in Gandhinagar were found to be using talcum powder, which is unfit for human consumption.

It was mixed with the raw materials to provide uniform colour and to reduce costs.

This artificial mava was not just supplied in rural Gujarat but also in other states including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.”

Some 547kg of the adulterant white powder was seized from these locations. FDCA officials have also registered a complaint at Dabhoda police station in Gandhinagar district against the proprietors of Kailadevi Milk Food Products and Rahana Devi Milk Food products for breach of trust, criminal conspiracy and endangering public health.