Nov 3, 2013

Adulteration threat and homemade sweets on Diwali

LUCKNOW: This Diwali, many housewives in the city are preparing sweets at home for the festival due to fear of adulteration in sweets available in markets.

"Around this time of the year, the worst quality of khoya is available in the market. In the past few months, the price of milk and other raw materials has increased which implies that adulterated sweets are flooding the market," said Nirmala Mishra, a housewife. She added, "After a gap of at least 10 years, I am making for the festival sweets at home. These are at least pure and of better quality besides being cheaper than the ones available in market."

The adulteration in sweets can be assessed from the fact that a litre of milk costing Rs 44-50 produces nearly 150-180 gram of khoya. It means that a kilogram of khoya would cost over Rs 280 but in the city markets, Khoya is available for Rs 240-260. As market price is less than the cost of production, it implies additives have been put into the khoya.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) receives about 8-10 complaints every month regarding food adulteration from residents of Lucknow. They are able to collect more than 30 samples every month; however around festivals the drive becomes more intensive and vigilant as the adulteration cases are on rise during this season. In October, FSSAI has sent about 25 samples to the laboratory till date for examination.

Homemaker Sarita Jaiswal, who is busy in preparing different varieties of sweets, said, "I had to recall the recipes of sweets my mother used to make during Diwali. Even the ghee used in my sweets is homemade." Another housewife, Sunita Goel said, "The sweets prepared at home have no match with the ones flooded in market. I have used good quantity of dry fruits, etc, but have gone easy on sugar."

HUNGER GAMES: That tricky glass of milk

It either runs a high risk of being adulterated or is presumably authentic but expensive

While an increasing number of friends claim to be suddenly “lactose intolerant” these days, there are ironically that many more options for milk. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint
While an increasing number of friends claim to be suddenly “lactose intolerant” these days, there are ironically that many more options for milk.
In the small town in Madhya Pradesh where I grew up, there were two main domestic suppliers of milk. You bought from one or the other; there was no third option. This was before the era of tetra packs.
My childhood memories include going to the tabela at the crack of dawn, the vast, dusty grounds thick with the smell of cows, pollen and dung. People would queue up with their cans or any other utensils. A dairy employee would milk the cow and it would be poured into the customers’ can still frothing and warm, with an odd piece of hay floating on top.
Things have changed a bit by 2013. We get terta packs bought from the grocer (at Rs.55-60 a litre) that last upto six months when unopened or supplies in plastic packets that get dropped off at the doorstep (Rs.32-40) every morning, which go bad if they remain outside the refrigerator for more than three hours. There still are the milkmen who come home with their aluminium cans, but the numbers are fewer in big cities.
While an increasing number of friends and acquaintances claim to be suddenly “lactose intolerant” these days, there are ironically that many more options for milk (which, as a product, seems to have an equal number of fans and haters).
Just recently, we got a flyer for a home supply of milk in Mumbai from the Organic Garden, the chain of stores that supplies organic groceries. Priced at Rs.45 and starting early October, this will tie up with the local milk vendor for home deliveries.
This flyer was followed by an email a few days later from another farm that supplies “unadulterated, fresh milk”. Sarda Farms in Nashik has been delivering this milk in that city for a year now and have decided to spread their wings to Mumbai. Their deliveries will start next month to select locations but their website (saradafarms.com) already has elaborate details.
They do raw, pasteurized and skimmed milk, each costing Rs.80 a litre. The farm has, according to its website, besides an ultra-modern plant, bottled packaging, a Dutch farm manager, Holstein cows, “special hay beds for the cows to ensure they are comfortable while sleeping or resting” and “a designated ruminating area pre-defined to help the cows ruminate in leisure”.
About two years ago, Parag Milk Foods launched its brand Pride of Cows in South Mumbai. At Rs.75 a litre and served in PET bottles, this milk that came from a Holstein Freisian breed of cows at Bhagyalaxmi Dairy Farm near Pune was said to be untouched by humans. Their Facebook page gives out a list of celebrity clients. The Hindu Business Line reported then that some South Mumbai families or customers were selected for deliveries following a survey done by the company. Their European farm manager was quoted in the article saying that every cow went through an electronic health check every time it was milked to ensure it is at its peak health at that time.
According to a study by the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) reported in 2012, 65% of the milk tested from Maharashtra did not meet the prescribed norms or was adulterated. So where does that leave an average consumer?
Pay Rs.34-40 a litre for milk that may be adulterated or Rs.75-80 for something that presumably is not? There’s no easy answer, but there is, obviously, a price to pay for anything that’s “authentic”.
This weekly series, which appears on Tuesdays, looks at what’s new with food and drink, and how we are interacting with it.

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