Haryana FDA finds certain items of milk brands ‘substandard’

‘Some products of Amul, Mother Dairy, Patanjali and Paras substandard as they fail quality test conducted between April and Dec 2016’

GHEE, CREAM UNDER SCRUTINY

THE FOOD and Drug Administration (FDA) of Haryana has found products sold under leadingmilkbrandssuchasamul, Mother Dairy, Patanjali and Paras to be “substandard” as they failed the quality tests done in between April and December last year. Clarified butter (ghee) manufacturedandsoldundermajorbrands such as Amul, Mother Dairy, Patanjaliandparashasbeenfound to be substandard during tests conducted by the FDA. Cream manufactured by Mother Dairy wasalsofoundtobesubstandard.

The Indian Express received this information in response to various applications filed with Haryana FDA under Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005. The applications were transferred by state FDA to its food laboratory and other district-level offices. In reply to the RTI question about what action they have taken against these companies, the state food laboratory told the newspaper that the matter is “not related to this office”. The details about these cases are as follows:

■ Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd’s

(GCMMF Ltd) Amul ghee In a probe report of October 2016, the state food laboratory of Food anddrugadministration(fda)at Haryanafound“amulghee”tobe “misbranded, substandard and unsafe”. Moreover, in four differentprobereportsofoctober2016, the same laboratory of FDA Haryanafound“amulghee”tobe “substandard and unsafe”.

R S Sodhi, managing director, GCMMF Ltd, told The Indian Express:“wewouldliketoinform youthatwedonothaveanyinformation regarding the Amul Ghee samples lifted by Food Safety Authoritiesofharyanastateinthe month of October 2016 as mentionedinyourmessage.moreover, no such Food Analyst reports (probe reports) were received with the information that the samples of ghee lifted were “Misbranded, Sub-standard and Unsafe” from FDA authorities of Haryana state in the month of October-2016 to date ... As you may be aware, Amul is India’s largest food brand ... Each of our products are market leaders in their respective dairy categories. We give utmost importance to quality in all our activities.”

■ Mother Dairy Fruit and Vegetable Private Ltd’s butter and ghee In a probe report of July 2016, the state food laboratory of FDA Haryana found “cream of Mother Dairy”tobe“misbranded“.intwo differentprobereportsofoctober, 2016, the state food lab of FDA Haryana found “ghee of Mother Dairy” to be “misbranded, substandard and unsafe”.

The company spokesperson for Mother Dairy Fruit and Vegetableprivatelimitedtoldthe Indian Express:“wewishtoclarify thatwehadreceivedareportfrom theauthoritiescitingmisbranding of one of our products — cream. It was due to an error in printing of the ‘Best Before’ date which was mentioned in small alphabets as againsttherequiredcapitalletters. Thesamewasrectifiedpostreceiving the report. Additionally, we would also like to clarify that we arenotawareofanysuchfindings withrespecttothetestsconducted forghee.wewouldliketoreiterate that all our products maintain the highest standards of quality and safetybyensuringstrictadherence to protocols such as Food Safety and Standard norms.” ■ Patanjali Ayurved Ltd’s cow ghee In a probe report of October, 2016, the state food laboratory of FDA Haryana found “Patanjali cow ghee” to be “substandard and unsafe”. The company did not responded to repeated queries sent by The Indian Express.

■ VRS Foods Ltd’s Paras ghee In three different probe reports of October 2016, the state food laboratory of FDA Haryana found “Paras ghee” to be “substandard and unsafe”. The company did not respond to repeated queries sent by The Indian Express.