Food Authority Cracks Down On Ghee Adulteration, Orders Sales Halt

Food regulator FSSAI has suspended the license of Marche Retail Pvt Ltd for serious violations of law and also prohibited Daman-based SDP Industries from selling all variants of ghee.

In a social media post on Sunday, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said it has suspended the license of Marche Retail Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, and has issued a prohibition order to SDP Industries Pvt Ltd, Daman, after "uncovering serious food safety violations".

The license of Marche Retail was suspended after it detected serious non-compliances during inspection and subsequent follow-up scrutiny of the food business premises, the regulator said.

In the case of Marche Retail, the FSSAI said the establishment was found operating with "deficiencies relating to design, operational controls, sanitation, personal hygiene, food-handler training and mandatory record-keeping during the inspection".

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The FSSAI license has been suspended for 30 days.

The regulator has told the company to "cease and desist" from all food business activities and directed it to rectify mistakes.

In the case of SDP Industries, the FSSAI said that it has issued a prohibition order for "non-compliant ghee products and adulteration concerns".

During enforcement inspection and sample examination, the regulator said the company's multiple ghee products, including variants marketed under brands such as "Shraddha", "Shree Saras" and "Gokul", were found non-compliant with the applicable requirements under the FSS Act, 2006.

"Laboratory analysis of the ghee samples detected A-sitosterol, a plant sterol that is required to be absent in ghee, along with non-conformity in the fatty-acid composition. The findings were indicative of the presence of foreign/vegetable fats and raised serious food safety concerns," the FSSAI pointed out.

The regulator has asked SDP Industries to immediately stop selling all variants of ghee manufactured, stored or sold from its authorised premises.

The company has been directed to ensure that the prohibited products are not placed in the market or sold to consumers with immediate effect and until further orders, the FSSAI post said.

On Saturday, the FSSAI informed that it has issued 150 notices to food companies, including major brands Nestle India, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola India, in recent months over misleading advertisements, false claims and non-compliance with labelling regulations.

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In a social media post, FSSAI shared an update on the enforcement action taken against major brands during recent months.

"Over 150 notices issued for misleading advertisements, false claims & labelling non-compliances," the FSSAI said.

The regulator shared the list of the major brands.

These are Nestle India, PepsiCo, Abbott India Ltd, Red Bull India, Danone India, Monster Energy India Pvt Ltd, Hell Energy Pvt Ltd, Mondelez India, Coca-Cola India, Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Ferrero India and Kenvue Inc.

In the past few months, the FSSAI said that it has taken action against various food business operators (FBOs) for serious violations of its laws and regulations.

The regulator has cracked down on energy drink and alcoholic beverage makers.

Elaborating on its recent actions, the FSSAI said that it has seized products of many companies because of the violations.

As many as 12 notices have been sent to e-commerce companies Amazon and Flipkart.

"One Amazon warehouse license has also been cancelled," it said.

The FSSAI said more than 30 notices have been issued to food service establishments like KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Domino's and Costa Coffee.

It has suspended five licenses of Domino's.

Earlier this week, the FSSAI said many companies have started taking corrective actions following notices issued by it against these companies. PTI MJH BAL BAL

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)