LUDHIANA – The State Health Department after testing 1,248 samples of sweets and other eatables this year, found that bakery products contained non-permitted colours and milk and milk products were adulterated with foreign fat.
Ashok Kumar and Balwinder Singh, Food Analysts at the State Food and Drug Laboratory, Punjab, said: “We found starch powder and refined oil in khoya; and soya powder, milk powder, refined oil and liquid glucose in milk. Similar ingredients were found in cheese and curd. We found that most sweetmakers, instead of using silver foil to decorate sweets, are using aluminum foil, which is harmful. In mustard oil, crude rice bran was found. The reports revealed that several bakery products were also not up to the mark.”
The analysts said: “While many bakers didn’t disclose which colour they had added to the eatables, some used non-permitted colours.”
The Health Department collected more samples of eatables and sweets this year. Kumar said: “Out of 1,248 samples received this year, 716 and 532 samples were collected in the month of October and November, respectively. Last year, we received 1,106 samples, out of which, 756 samples were collected in October and 350 samples in November. As many as 133 samples failed the purity test last year.”
When asked how many samples had failed the purity test this year, Kumar said, “We are yet to compile the report.”
