The Pimpri-Chinchwad police have, in a joint action with the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA), busted a dairy unit allegedly manufacturing adulterated paneer in Chinchwad. The police seized large quantities of chemicals and oils, and blocks of manufactured adulterated paneer worth around Rs 4.66 lakh.
A team from the crime branch of Pimpri-Chinchwad police received a tip-off during their patrolling rounds that a unit named Maharashtra Milk Dairy, located near Chittarao Ganesh Temple, was involved in manufacturing adulterated paneer using milk powder and chemicals. A team led by Inspector Arvind Pawar initiated a probe.
“Based on the information received, a raid was conducted in coordination with the officials from the FDA. Two owners and four staffers at the manufacturing unit were running the unit. Large quantities of chemicals used for making adulterated paneer were seized along with manufactured blocks of suspected spurious paneer.” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime branch) Swapna Gore.
The probe revealed that the unit was manufacturing paneer using milk powder, palmolein oil, acetic acid, and an emulsifier named glyceryl monostearate (GMS). The police seized 140 litres of industrial-grade acetic acid, 60 litres of RBD (refined, bleached and deodorized) palmolein oil, 60 kg of GMS powder and 109 kg of paneer manufactured using these chemicals.
“Paneer was being manufactured using very harmful chemicals of industrial grade. The FDA officials sent the samples of the manufactured paneer for testing. Following the test results, the FDA will initiate further legal action.” said Pawar.
A crime branch officer said, “We are appealing to citizens to report to us if they get information about manufacturing adulterated food items. For example, unadulterated paneer traditionally smells of good quality milk cream, is bright white, and is very soft. Adulterated paneer has no smell, is light yellow and very chewy. If citizens come across such doubtful food items, they can approach the police or the FDA, and action can be initiated after initial testing of the products.”
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