Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
Diwali is synonymous with sweets and festive delicacies but it’s also a time when the sale of substandard and adulterated food products spikes. During the festive season, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seized over 19,641 kg of food items worth Rs 30.11 lakh across Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district. However, the laboratory test reports for these samples are still pending, and officials say they are unsure when the results will be released.
FDA teams conducted raids in various parts of the city and collected samples of paneer, cheese, refined oil, ghee, sweets, mawa (khoya), gram flour, spices, and Diwali sweets. Preliminary checks raised suspicions of adulteration and poor quality in some samples. All items were sent for laboratory analysis, which was expected to be completed within 14 days. However, nearly two months later, reports for several products are yet to be received.
Suspected poor quality
All samples have been sent for laboratory analysis, and reports are pending. Officials suspect low-quality ingredients in palm oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, and cow ghee.
Goods seized worth lakhs
Palm oil: 10,498 kg (worth Rs 14.54 lakh)
Soybean oil: 8,600 kg (worth Rs 14.4 lakh)
Cow ghee: 364 kg (worth Rs2.89 lakh)
Sweets and confectionery: Hundreds of kilos of sonpapdi, mysore pak, and other festive sweets
The total seized stock amounts to food items worth several lakh rupees.
Officials involved
The action was carried out under the supervision of joint commissioner Dayanand Patil and assistant commissioner Vivek Patil, with food safety officers P.S. Kuchekar, M.F. Siddiqui, P.P. Surse, V.T. Jadhavar, S.T. Jadhavar, J.B. Jadhavar, and S.A. Kedar participated.
When will reports arrive?
Despite being collected during the Dussehra and Diwali period, the lab reports for the sweet samples are still pending. The standard time frame for such testing is 14 days. Attempts to contact the laboratory were unsuccessful, and the FDA too has not provided any update on when the results will be available.