Jaipur, Jan 30 (IANS) In a statewide drive against food adulteration being carried out in Rajasthan, the state’s Food Safety Department took major action under the “Pure Food – War on Adulteration” initiative and seized more than 43,000 litres of ghee suspected to be adulterated.
Rajasthan Food Safety Commissioner Dr. T. Shubhamangala, on Thursday, told that M/s Giridhar Milk Food Product, located in Shyam Vihar Colony at Machera in Jaipur, manufactures ghee under the brand name ‘Bhog Vinayak’.
Samples of Bhog Vinayak brand ghee collected from Pratapgarh district were found to be unsafe in laboratory testing.
Following this, under the directions of Rajasthan Additional Commissioner Bhagwat Singh, and Designated Officer and Chief Medical and Health Officer (Jaipur First) Ravi Shekhawat, a team of food safety officers conducted an inspection of the firm.
During the inspection, it was found that the firm was not operating from the address mentioned in its food license and official records, but was instead running its operations from another undisclosed location, which is a clear violation of the Food Safety and Standards Act.
During the inspection, officials also discovered that another firm, Shri Shyam Milk Food Product, was operating from the same premises.
From the three warehouses of both firms, huge stock of ghee was seized which included 9,065 litres of Bhog Vinayak brand ghee (various packing sizes), 17,741 liters of Haryana Cream brand ghee and 16,617 litres of Naksh Dairy brand ghee.
After collecting samples of all brands, the entire 43,421 litres of ghee were seized on the spot.
Further action will be taken under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, based on the laboratory test reports.
The Additional Commissioner said that earlier, a sample of Bhog Vinayak brand ghee was declared unsafe by the Jaipur Central Laboratory.
Following this report, instructions were issued to immediately withdraw the product from the market across the state.
In view of the serious irregularities, proceedings have also been initiated to cancel the firm’s food license.
–IANS
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