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Poor on quality but rich on profit, Dharavi’s solution to Diwali demand
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Saturday, 21 October, 2017, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Prashant Nikale, Mumbai
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Diwali is here and the demand for sweets such as barfis and laddoos and savouries like sev and chaklis is at its peak. In fact such is the demand that mithaiwalas across the country are found resorting to unscrupulous practices like using substandard besan and khoa or mawa to meet the demand and make a fast buck.
In Mumbai, this is the time when Dharavi, Asia's largest slum housing a large number of small-scale mithai and namkeen making units, turns into a hub for such activities. It has been learnt that not only small streetside shops, but even some big brands in the sweets and namkeen industries depend on these units to meet orders that run into crores.
The owner of one of the sweet making units explained, “During the festive season, various people start business to earn profit. Naturally, that person is not going to use good quality raw materials which are required to prepare sweets or namkeen. Also, as they are sold at lesser price, the poor consumer will purchase from their shop and sometimes fall victim to food poisoning.”
Price variations Interestingly, the adulterated variety of sweets and savouries also experiences intense competition with huge price difference in the offerings.
A shop-owner from Dharavi claimed, “You will come across various prices of same item at different places. For example, our prices are high because we use high and branded quality raw material. If you wish to buy mawa barfi our shop rate is Rs 500 a kg, whereas the same item will cost you Rs 300 at another shop.”
He added, “We use pure milk to make sweets. Some shops use flour like maida, peanut flour, singada flour to make sweets.”
However, contradicting him, another shopkeeper stated, “Everyone here claims to be best and is in the market to do profit. The claims are false. They use the same raw material like all but claim to be of best quality and charge the consumers as per their choice.”
Such is the difference in the rates, that on a 50 meter stretch, the much in demand Kaju Katri was priced at rates as varied as Rs 520, Rs 750 and Rs 600 for a kg.
Special Drive Meanwhile, for the last two months, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Maharashtra, has been conducting a special drive to deal with the adulteration menace beforehand.
Giving details on the drive, Dr Pallavi Darade, food safety commissioner, FDA, Maharashtra, said, “In this festival drive, starting from August 20, till now we have taken 961 samples of khoa, mawa, meethi, oil, ghee and others from all over the state.”
She added, “Nearly 2,44,888 kg of these items are seized. The total cost of seized articles during the ongoing festival drive is more than Rs 4,28,44,616. The drive will be ongoing till festival is over.”
Further, if the samples fail the test, compounding or adjudication case is filed against the Food Business Operator (FBO) concerned. And, if the sample collected is declared as unsafe for human consumption then court case is filed against such FBOs.
Chandrashekhar Salunkhe, joint commissioner, FDA, Maharashtra, informed, “100 samples out of 980 were collected from Mumbai region. Large amounts of mawa and sweet barfi are transported into Mumbai from other states via tourist travellers, private vehicles and trains, because of lack of manpower we are not able to reach at every point, but still we cover as much ground as possible.”
Pointing out the challenges they have to face, he added that FDA drew samples from remote areas, since mawa is of perishable nature it was difficult to dispatch samples to laboratories within time. And people involved in making traditional food are not so literate and are not ready to accept changes proactively.
On a concluding note, Salunkhe observes, “If customer of food industry became aware and vigilant, society will not depend on actions of FDA. Self compliance among FBOs and awareness among customers is key to safe food.”
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