Dec 26, 2012

Lactic acid in Parle Kaccha Mango Bite safe for consumption: Bombay HC

In a recent hearing at the Bombay High Court, the verdict went in favour of Parle Products Pvt Ltd for its use of lactic acid in Kaccha Mango Bite, based on the construction of the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006 and the rules and regulations made thereunder. The verdict established that the lactic acid in hard-boiled candies is absolutely safe for human consumption.
 

A spokesperson for the biscuit-maker, which had moved court against Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Maharashtra, confirmed this, adding that lactic acid is widely used in several food items of daily consumption, including curd, infant milk-based formulations, bread, paneer, processed cheese, milk powder, cream powder, tomato ketchup, squashes, garlic paste, onion paste, ginger paste, etc.

“We are very happy with the development. The day we moved court against FDA Maharashtra, we were sure that the verdict will be in our favour. At Parle we believe in delivering the best to our consumers. All our products go through stringent quality norms, be it the ingredients, processes, packaging material, etc. We have always placed the consumer first and will continue to follow this philosophy in future as well,” he said, on the condition of anonymity.

The spokesperson added, “When our manufacturing units at Nashik and Khopoli were raided and Kaccha Mango Bite worth more than Rs 60 lakh were seized, we took the matter seriously. We put our side forth and also presented the facts about lactic acid to the state food regulator, but they were in no mood to listen. It was an attempt to malign the reputation of the company.”

K B Sankhe, joint commissioner (food), FDA Maharashtra, said, “We have not yet gone through the file yet. Once we go through it we will decide the further course of action.”

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