Sweet indulgence can turn sour

AHMEDABAD: As he countdown to Diwali picks pace and free indulgence of the sweet ooth is expected, it's time that you make a closer look at what's on your platter. And with palate and tradition o egg us on, most of us down many chocolates, laddus, kaju katris, fafdas and jalebis during this festive season without realizing the danger that awaits us. In Rajkot for instance the municipal corporation seized 255 kilograms of fake butter' on Friday . All that butter was waiting to be supplied to sweet hops. The ingredients were, vegetable ghee, ,mixed with white colour and soya bean oil. Each of tinned containers seized was sold at Rs 1,600."We have not deciphered the chemical nature of the white color. We suspect t to be a banned substance," says a senior Rajkot Municipal Corporation RMC) health official. 

In Ahmedabad on Wednesday more han 100 workers and officials of Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd at their Dholka plant were taken ill by food poisoning.The patients had complained of nausea, vomiting and acute abdominal pain.They had consumed 'Dudhi ka Halwa' which used contaminated mawa. 

A low conviction rate in food adulteration cases has now become a major worry for many municipal corporations as there are several nstances of repeat offenders in each city. In Ahmedabad for instance there has been just one conviction in the entire year and that too of a ghee sample that was taken in 2011. As per the Food Safety and Standards Act punishments for mislabeling, adulterating or sale of unsafe food can range from six months in jail to life imprisonment, and fines up to Rs 10 lakh. 

But the Act is useless unless courts act fast. There are close to 100 cases in which food samples have failed laboratory tests and are pending hearing with the Ahmedabad resident district collector. Another major issue is of mushrooming of unlicensed sweet shops in many Gujarat cities. In Ahmedabad for instance there are more than 1,000 such shops while in Surat there are 500 such major shops. "Most of these sweet shops are do not have building use permissions and hence under the present food safety Act they cannot be recognized as authorized sellers," says a senior AMC health official. 

Times View 

Extremely low conviction rates in food adulteration raises a finger towards a weak enforcement and will to book culprits. There is no denying the fact that health officials file cases against adulterators , but it is often seen that the evidence does not convince our courts. It is important now that special courts consisting of food safety experts be instituted to try adulteration cases. 

"Can't adhere to safety standards always" 

AHMEDABAD Surprising as it may seem, several sweet mart owners in city had bluntly told the AMC that raiding their shops or quality checks was unjust due to commotion during festivals. They had also given a written representation saying that safety standards have to be given a go by sometimes. They had made this representation just two days before Dusshera when AMC teams had collected 91 samples of sweets, mawa and farsan. Of these, 16 were found "unsafe", 13 cases pertained to false claims of nutrition and one sample tested unsafe. Laboratory tests on 400 other samples are pending. 

Maximum adulteration in mawa 

VADODARA: The civic body in city has only recently stepped up its drive to collect and check samples of food items ahead of the festive season. Officials of said that the highest adulteration was found in milk products including mava.Like every year, the VMC took samples of fafda-jalebi ahead of Dussehra and other sweet and savories during Rakshabandhan and Diwali. Besides adulteration, a major issue being faced was that of use of stale raw materials and unhygienic storage conditions . VMC's health officer Dr Mukesh Vaidya said that the sellers were still relying on old methods for adulteration. 

It's margarine not butter! 

SURAT: No amount of butter is enough for Surtis who gorge on dosas, sandwiches and paav bhaji at roadside eateries. Most foodies ask for an extra dollop. But not many know that it's not butter but table margarine that they are gulping down. Nearly 5,000 road side eateries in the Diamond City pass off table margarine as butter. Interestingly, SMC food department has provided license to just two agencies to supply table margarine in the city. "We are investigating as to how such huge quantity of margarine comes to the city as very few buy from registered margarine sellers," says KG Patel of SMC.