FSSAI, in an attempt to check the quality of khoya being utilized for manufacturing of sweets in the country, has conducted a nationwide survey from 12th to 16th October by installing mobile food testing labs at various marketplaces.
As per the apex food regulator, the pan-India survey was conducted and up till now approximately 700 samples from 15 states/UTs were sent for analysis while a report from other states is awaited.
The decision to run a pan-India survey on khoya was made following a representation was made by members of Federation of Sweets and Namkeen Manufacturers recently in front of the CEO of FSSAI, wherein they took up the issue of adulterated khoya being delivered to them.
“Consequently, a pilot survey was done by Department of Food Safety, Delhi, under the regulation of FSSAI by installing Food Safety on Wheels (FSWs) at Mori Gate Khoya Mandi in Delhi between 31st August and 4th September 2020.
FSSAI reports that- “During this survey, khoya samples were analyzed by the mobile lab staff for 3 parameters which encompassed Titratable acidity, maximum added starch and added sugar in khoya.”
The statement further included that a part of the sourced khoya samples was also sent to the State Food Testing Laboratory for being checked over five other parameters including Baudouin, Detergent, Neutraliser, Urea, and B R reading.
FSSAI stated- “Believing that there was some failure in the samples gathered at Delhi during the pilot survey, it has been planned to conduct a nationwide khoya quality survey.”
The Commissioner of Food Safety of all states were asked to choose khoya mandis in their respective jurisdiction particularly in big cities and install mobile food testing labs for 5 days from starting from 12th October 2020, and motivate khoya purchasers to get their khoya sample tested.
FSSAI notified that the survey results are anticipated to come in a month’s time. The final survey results will aid in recognition of the major hot spots for adulteration of khoya in various parts of the country and will boost the attempts in designing targeted enforcement drives in the coming future.