Eat safe this Diwali: FDA seized 24 lakh kg spurious mawa, ghee, dry fruit since August

(From left) Inferior cashew nuts that were seized; substandard cashew nut paste seized from a shop in Borivli; kaju katli that is prepared in unhygienic conditions

Residents of Maharashtra, especially Nagpur, Thane, and Pune, need to be cautious about their sweetmeat purchases this Diwali. The state FDA has seized a significant amount of adulterated ingredients, including mawa, ghee and dry fruits, from these regions. Of the total 24 lakh kg of adulterated ingredients seized since August, Nagpur leads with 22.68 lakh kg of substandard ingredients followed by Thane, from where officials seized around 72.4 kg of ingredients. Pune ranks third with a 31 kg seizure of goods.

The FDA says it has begun the festive season drive, which will end in December, to curb the use of adulterated food items. "The special drive is conducted every year to ensure that no substandard or adulterated items are used in sweets and other edible items," FDA Commissioner Rajesh Narvekar said. The FDA conducts random testing of products or acts on tip-offs to seize these adulterated items. In the ongoing seizure, the department collected 194 samples, inspected 129 samples and seized 8,654 kg of adulterated items from Mumbai. "I urge citizens to buy products that are branded or in sealed packages to avoid adulterated items which may be hazardous to health," the commissioner added.

Khoya is one of the most common items used to make Indian sweets and the FDA observed that this is usually mixed with hazardous items like vegetable fat, chalk powder and blotting paper. According to the FDA, chalk powder can give the appearance of pure khoya. "Adulterated khoya is used to make Indian sweets as it is cheap and can be used in bulk. The adulterated khoya is mostly made in Gujarat because the state is a milk-producing hub. The khoya is then distributed to other states," an officer said on condition of anonymity.

Vanaspati is another highly misused item, used as a substitute of ghee. "Vanaspati is made of palm oil and is much cheaper than regular ghee. It is sourced from Nagpur, Pune and other parts of the state," the officer said. According to the FSSAI, one can detect vanaspati by its smell as it does not have a rich, nutty aroma like ghee. The FDA also seized cashew powder, cashew nuts, kaju katli and ghee worth Rs 31,05,230 from a shop in Borivali. "The shop was raided and the items were found to be substandard and unhygienic," the FDA officer said.

How to identify adulterated khoya

>> Fresh khoya has an oily, grainy texture and is sweet to taste. If one rubs khoya between one's fingers, it should leave a greasy mark. This is the most common way to determine purity.

>> Add a teaspoon of khoya to a cup of iodine. If the khoya turns blue, it is adulterated with starch.

>> Heat the khoya in a pan and add a tablespoon of sugar. If the sugar melts and water starts to appear on the sides of the pan, the khoya is adulterated.