Buckwheat flour that made 90 fall ill fails quality tests

The forensic test report of buckwheat flour samples, taken by the district food department of Gautam Budh Nagar, in the wake of alleged food poisoning of over 90 people in Noida and Greater Noida on ‘Maha Shivratri’ in March, has failed quality standards, officials said on Tuesday.

On March 8, at least 76 college students in a hostel in Greater Noida and 17 people from Barola village in Noida had to be hospitalised after consuming food made from buckwheat flour bought locally.

Although patients were discharged after treatment the next day, the food department collected samples for testing.

On March 10, the department collected samples from as many as 11 places, including hostels and grocery shops in Noida and Greater Noida, and sent them to the state lab in Lucknow.

“During investigation, it came to fore that buckwheat was delivered to a Noida-based Sector 73 manufacturing factory from Ghaziabad. It was later grinded by the factory owner and sold in Noida and Greater Noida. Samples of whole buckwheat and flour were taken from the manufacturing company. Both have not met the quality standards,” said designated official, food safety department (Gautam Budh Nagar) Archana Dheeran.

Legal action is being taken against the manufacturing company of the flour, as well as the Ghaziabad-based company that provided the whole buckwheat grains, the official said, adding that a case will be filed in the additional district magistrate (ADM) court in Gautam Budh Nagar.

According to ADM Nitin Madan, the manufacturing firm will be served notices by his office.

“As per procedure, the manufacturing company whose samples have been found substandard will be served notice asking them why the samples failed the quality test, and whether they are satisfied with the result,” he said.

“If they are not satisfied with the results, the manufacturer can appeal for further testing of the sample in the central government lab, as this report is from a state lab. If the sample fail the central government laboratory tests, the manufacturer will be imposed a monetary penalty by the ADM court,” Madan said.