An illustration shows Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) officials inspecting and seizing suspicious mawa (khoya) worth Rs 60.8 lakh ahead of Diwali during a food safety probe, highlighting a lab testing mix-up that led to a misbranding case.
Ahmedabad : An AMC food safety probe has raised questions after suspected mawa (khoya) worth Rs 60.8 lakh, seized ahead of Diwali , was incorrectly labelled as ‘barfi’ by the civic body and tested as such by the laboratory. The AMC’s health and food safety department seized around 40,500kg of suspected mawa from a cold-storage facility in Gomtipur on October 28. Nearly 1.02 lakh kg of stock belonging to around 60 vendors was stored at the facility, according to AMC records. The largest share belonged to Radhika Food Products, which had stored 1,380 sacks weighing 30kg each—a total of 40,500kg—under the names Rajwadi Sweet (Bajrangi) and Indian Dessert (Nilkanth).
As a result, the samples were declared “misbranded”, leading to the registration of a misbranding case against the food company instead of a case involving substandard food. It collected samples and labelled them “analogue barfi”. Misbranding attracts a lighter penalty than a substandard-food violation, under which the AMC can impose a heftier fine and destroy the seized stock. When the samples were analysed at the civic laboratory, they were found to conform to the standards for barfi, rather than being tested as mawa, weakening the case for a substandard-food violation. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Ahmedabad | Silver Rate in Ahmedabad | Bank Holidays in Ahmedabad | Public Holidays in Ahmedabad | Ahmedabad AQI | Weather in Ahmedabad | Petrol Price in Ahmedabad | Diesel Price in Ahmedabad | CNG Price in Ahmedabad | LPG Price in Ahmedabad