Friday, 20 OCTOBER 2023  | PURNIMA BISHT | DEHRADUN

The Food Safety and Drug Administration (FDA) will conduct a special drive in Dehradun against Adulterated Paneer in November. With the commencement of the festive and wedding season in winter, consumption of Paneer increases significantly in Dehradun. This increases the supply of Paneer from neighbouring states like Uttar Pradesh, which also increases the risk of supply and consumption of adulterated Paneer, said the designated officer of food safety in Dehradun district PC Joshi. He said that the supply of adulterated Paneer increases during the festive and wedding season due to low supply, high demand and cheaper prices. “The consumption of oil, ghee and other dairy items also increases during festive and wedding seasons. However, the officials concerned mostly find Paneer to be the most adulterated item during the checking drives,” said Joshi. On the question of the cause of adulteration in Paneer in Dehradun, he said that the Paneer consumption increases during festive seasons and special occasions but locally, its production is quite less. “Since establishments like shops, eateries and others prefer to buy Paneer in bulk due to more demand, it is supplied from other cities of neighbouring states like UP’s Saharanpur. Considering the demand, some middlemen sell adulterated Paneer to supply it across the district at cheaper prices. Many, knowingly or unknowingly, buy adulterated products due to increasing demand and cheaper prices,” said Joshi. He said that currently, a total of 312 cases are pending regarding food adulteration in courts including 270 cases in Additional District Magistrate’s court and 42 cases in Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court. Most of these cases are associated with adulteration of Paneer, said Joshi. Besides this, he informed that the FDA is currently conducting inspections of food items that are mainly consumed during Navratri like oil, ghee and Kuttu Atta. Many shopkeepers sell Kuttu Ata from bags opened months ago which can severely affect the health of consumers. “We are raising awareness among locals how selling and buying months-old Kutta Ata due to fungus in them can affect their health. FDA will take strict action against those who are found to be selling adulterated food items to people. Consumers can also complain to authorities if they find anybody selling adulterated food items,” said Joshi.