Ahmedabad, Oct 28: The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has suspended the sale of 40,500 kg of mawa worth an estimated Rs 60.75 lakh, stored at a cold storage facility in the Gomtipur area, after finding that the stock did not carry batch numbers or expiry dates, the civic body said during inspections ahead of the Diwali festival.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

The civic body's Health and Food Department inspected the facility as part of its drive to check the quality and safety of food products amid a seasonal rise in demand for sweets. The cold storage held approximately 1,02,000 kg of mawa belonging to around 60 vendors, with nearly 80 per cent of the stock attributed to 15 major suppliers.

The largest quantity was found to belong to Radhika Food Products, which had stored 1,380 bags of 30 kg each under the brand names Rajwadi Sweet (Bajrangi) and Indian Dessert (Nilkanth). The AMC said the stock totalling 40,500 kg had been withheld from sale because the batch numbers and expiry dates were not mentioned.

The department collected six samples of mawa under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, from the firms of Hasmukhbhai Mavawala, Tulsi Mawa Centre, Rajwadi Sweet (Bajrangi), Indian Dessert (Nilkanth), Purohit Mavawala and S K Mavawala. The samples have been sent to the Public Health Laboratory for testing, and the AMC said samples from other vendors would be collected in their presence.

Source: Nation Press

Mawa, also known as khoya, is the base ingredient for many sweets sold during the festive season, and the inspection comes amid concerns over the ingredients used in sweets as Diwali demand rises. The withheld stock remains barred from sale while the samples are tested.