Share
Food hygiene and authenticity have been a major issue for consumers as evidence of adulterated grains, produce, food products etc has grown in number across the country. Fake paneer, adulterated masala, low-quality grains and even fake ORS, have all been released in the market in the last few months. With prices of produce and vegetables rising up, several cases of fake vegetables have been reported in the last few weeks. Recently, a video has gone viral on social media showing fake garlic made up of cement in Maharashtra's Akola district.
A retired police officer’s wife was reportedly cheated with garlic made of cement. IPatil’s wife purchased 250 grams of garlic from a vendor, and upon being unable to peel it, she tried to cut the garlic only to find cement with a white coating on the outside. In a video, Patil said that fake garlic is being sold by a street vendor who is harming customers.
In the recent past authorities have spotted several units across the country selling fake or adulterated basic essentials like fake chilli powder, fake sago, adulterated cabbage etc. Paneer and cheese are the other two staples which are adulterated and sold in the markets. In early April, reports from Noida found that 47 paneer and khoya products out of 168 food items tested by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) were contaminated. In February, authorities confiscated a staggering 1300 kilograms of fake paneer, disposing of it safely along the Mumbai-Delhi Expressway.
In branded spices too toxic chemicals and inedible elements were traced by experts. In May, the Delhi police raided two factories in Karawal Nagar, Delhi. Upon examination, the spices that the factories were selling to vendors all across Delhi NCR were fake.
When it comes to garlic, this year, the plantation of garlic was delayed over Madhya Pradesh (the largest producer) and other north Indian states due to the slow progress of the monsoon. Thus, instead of September, the kharif crop started coming to the market only towards the end of November. With the slow arrival, the demand has shot up and prices have gone up as well, which would explain the rise in cases of fake garlic.
