2,060kg of paneer made with sulphuric acid seized

MOHALI: Your favourite paneer may well be made with detergent and urea and processed with sulphuric acid. That’s how an illegal factory was suspected to be producing the food item till a joint team of the health department, police and Progressive Dairy Farmers Association raided the joint at Ballomajra village in Mohali in the early hours of Tuesday. And, the haul was alarming: 2,060kg of spurious paneer, 120 litres of sulphuric acid, 135 bags each of 25kg of skimmed milk powder, 89kg of butter and 25kg of khoya.

K S Pannu, commissioner, food and drug administration, Punjab, said the factory was producing spurious paneer. The factory was sealed and the owner, Ashok Kumar, arrested on charges of adulteration of food or drink, sale of noxious food or drink and cheating.

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The detection of illegal units manufacturing synthetic milk and milk products has brought to fore how adulteration has become a big business. The perpetrators are unmindful of how injurious for human consumption their products are, or that they are likely to cause grievous hurt. Their eye is only on profit. People who cause so much harm to people’s health, need to be dealt with a tough hand. The proposed amendments in the food safety act mandating stiff penalty, including life term and heavy fines, for people involved in adulteration should be brought in quickly so that such people can be punished.

District health officer Rajbir Singh Kang said following directions of the minster for animal husbandry and dairy development Balbir Singh Sidhu, the team raided the factory at 4 am.

Samples of desi ghee, skimmed milk powder, paneer, milk and curd suspected to be prepared from adulterants were sent for analysis to a food lab in Kharar. An FIR (first information report) was registered under Sections 272, 273, 336 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the accused at Balongi police station.

Kang said, “The factory was operating without any licence and the unit was unhygienic. The utensils used to compress paneer slabs were fungusinfected. We have sealed the factory and booked the owner.”