Srinagar, September 22: The Jammu and Kashmir Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has prohibited the sale, storage, distribution and display of specified batches of four ghee brands across the region after laboratory tests found them unsafe, sub-standard or misbranded.
The order, issued by J&K Commissioner of Food Safety Khalid Jahangir under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, takes immediate effect across Jammu and Kashmir.
The affected products are ‘Cow Ghee Milk Bite’, ‘Pehalwan’, ‘Swift’ and ‘Sangath’.
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According to the FDA order, samples of the ghee were collected by Food Safety Officers from Jammu, Anantnag, Kathua, Samba and Pulwama and tested at the National Food Laboratory in Ghaziabad and the Food Testing Laboratory in Srinagar.
The laboratory reports found the concerned products did not conform to prescribed standards for ghee. The findings included the presence of beta-sitosterol, vegetable fat or foreign fat, a positive Baudouin test and deviations in parameters including Reichert-Meissl value, Polenske value, saponification value, B.R. reading, iodine value and fatty-acid profile.
The FDA said the findings established that the products did not meet the prescribed standards governing ghee.
Under food safety regulations, ghee is required to be derived exclusively from milk or milk products through processes that remove water and non-fat milk solids. The regulations also prohibit the sale of ghee containing matter not derived exclusively from milk fat.
As per the order, the affected batches are:
- Cow Ghee Milk Bite — manufactured by M/s Mahadev Industries, Rajasthan; batch 143, sampled in Jammu; reported as sub-standard.
- Pehalwan — manufactured by M/s Comfy Agro Pvt. Ltd, Gidderbaha, Punjab; batch PW-005, sampled in Anantnag; reported as unsafe.
- Swift — manufactured by M/s Suneja Food Products, Hisar, Haryana; batch M-92, sampled in Anantnag; reported as unsafe.
- Sangath — manufactured by M/s Akshar Dairy Product, Ahmedabad, Gujarat; batch AD-05/0105-2026, sampled in Anantnag; reported as unsafe/sub-standard.
The FDA has directed food business operators, manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers and others dealing in the specified batches to immediately stop their sale, storage, distribution and display across J&K.
The concerned businesses have also been directed to segregate the affected stock and keep it in safe custody. They have been asked to submit details of the quantities received, sold or distributed and currently in stock to the concerned Designated Officer within 48 hours of the order.
Designated Officers and Food Safety Officers have been directed to conduct inspections and verify compliance across the supply chain.
The order warned that anyone found violating the prohibition would face action under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and other applicable laws.
The FDA said the prohibition had been issued as a precautionary measure in the public interest. However, the affected food business operators can exercise their statutory right to seek re-analysis of the samples through an FSSAI-notified referral laboratory, as provided under the law.
