State food safety departments in many parts of India have found brands of major companies failing quality tests. Vegetable oils like Saffola Gold and Fortune and packaged drinking water were among the products tested for quality by the regulators over the past year-and-a-half. Interestingly, the regulators have also found cases of counterfeit products among the samples collected for quality checks.

In Rajasthan, samples of Saffola Gold blended edible vegetable oil were collected from Sawai Madhopur, and reportedly found sub-standard by the state authorities. Naresh Kumar Chenjara, food safety officer, Sawai Madhopur, said, “On May 9, 2016, random checking of Saffola Gold blended edible vegetable oil samples was conducted with reference to the parameters laid down by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).”

“The probe results came out on May 27, 2016. The sample was considered sub-standard, as it had an acid value of 1.12 units instead of the permitted value of 0.50units. That is, it was found to be 0.62 units higher,” he added.

The report stated, “The sample of Saffola Gold blended edible vegetable oil (loose) bearing the code number and serial number (H-875) of the designated officer and chief medical and health officer (CM&HO), Sawai Madhopur, is sub-standard, as it does not conform to the prescribed provisions of the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011.”

The officer added, “In last so many years, there are hardly any products by any company which have received a clean chit when random inspections were carried out. There is always something lacking in the products, as the company fails to comply with the set parameters set by the authority.”

A similar case was reported from Bundi, Rajasthan. Giriraj Sharma, the city’s food safety officer, collected a sample of Fortune physically-refined rice bran oil for analysis on May 16, 2016. It was allegedly found to be sub-standard.

The result indicated the acid value of the collected sample was 0.67 units. The prescribed limit under the Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011, should not be more than 0.5 units.

When asked about the further development on the matter, Sharma informed, “The report has been already sent to higher authorities in Jaipur, but we are yet to get a response to take any further action.”

Meanwhile, such cases have also been reported in the south. A Rama Krishnan, food safety officer, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, confirmed that 200 random samples of packaged drinking water were collected for the purpose of testing.

He informed, “We had collected 200 samples of packaged drinking water brands of different companies from different parts of the region. Eleven of these were tested under the set parameters of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), of which four were found to be misleading. The report result stated that the products were categorised as misbranded, sub-standard and unsafe.”

“The label on the product was improper. The batch number and best-before date were missing from the label. The prescribed ph value of water should be between 6.5 to 8.5. However, the sample collected had a low ph value of 6. Along with these missing parameters, E coli and chlorine, which should be absent, were present in the sample,” added Krishnan.

The Chennai High Court had directed the company to withdraw their products and use the plant only for the purpose of maintenance and not for selling. Later, as per the court order, the products were retested and cleared for resale.

Not only were there reports of sub-standard food products in Maharashtra and Haryana, but there were some reports of counterfeit products from the two states as well.

Suresh Annapure, joint commissioner, Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said, “Recently, the food inspector from our region, during his routine inspection, found counterfeit samples of Amul.” He stated that the authority was considering action.

Similar reports came from Haryana, where the state FDA raided a few places in Sonepat and found counterfeit products. Naresh Ahuja, assistant commissioner, Haryana FDA, stated that a case had been registered against two persons in this regard.

And a continuous vigil is on. H G Koshia, food safety commissioner, Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) Gujarat, informed, “On a regular basis, inspections are carried out by allocated designated food safety officers in different regions. Thus, inspections of both branded as well as of non-branded products keep happening.”

“Last week, illegal samples of spices like coriander powder and chilli powder were seized during the inspection in the southern part of Gujarat. Around two tons of goods, amounting to Rs 4 lakh, were seized. We have sealed their company premises. Investigations are on, and once we have the report in hand, further action will be taken accordingly,” he said.