Ramdev’s Patanjali products fail tests

Dehra Dun: Baba Ramdev’s yogic exercise may be doing wonders for the health of the masses, but if the Uttarakhand food department is to be believed, Ayurvedic products made at his Patanjali Products could be doing quite to the contrary. Samples of some produce have failed tests conducted have failed tests conducted at the Udhamsingh Nagar laboratory.

It may be recalled that a team of the state food department had picked up some samples from the sales depot of the Patanjali Food Products at Kankhal in Haridwar district on August 16. The products bearing the label Patanjali Food Park included mustard oil, gram flour, honey, black pepper, pineapple jam and salt, which were sent for testing tom the laboratory.

The report from the laboratory made public on Tuesday has claimed that three samples of mustard oil, salt, honey and black pepper are sub-standard, while the labels in the gram flour and salt packages are misleading.
The honey it is alleged is made of ‘litchi’ juice and has only five per cent honey in it, while the mustard oil is actually produced by Jaipur-based oil manufacturer. The gram flour packet label contains the word ‘arogya’ on the label which is not allowed as per law. The black pepper packet also has the word ‘arogya’ on it and the nutritional value of the produce is not mentioned.

As for the salt it was said that it has been produced by a Gujerat based company and the people were being misguided that it was a produce of Patanjali, the jam claimed that it was real pineapple, where pineapple flavor and not the fruit had been used.

Even as the Patanjali Food Products claimed that there was some misunderstanding over the labels that had been put on the products and there was no question on their purity, Haridwar district food security officer, R S Rawat said that a case relating each product would be filed in court of the additional district magistrate and in all six cases would be filed.

Rawat said that a maximum fine of Rs 10 lakhs could be imposed for misleading consumers on false claims of a product under section 52 of the labeling and Packing Act, while a maximum fine of Rs five lakhs per produce could be imposed under section 53 of the Act, if the product is found to be less impure than what has been claimed.

Jagdish Bhatt

A journalist with over 40 years of experience, Jagdish Bhatt was Editor, Hill Post (Uttarakhand).

Jagdish had worked with India’s leading English dailies, which include Times of India, Indian Express, Pioneer and several other reputed publications. A highly acclaimed journalist, he was a recipient of many awards

Jagdish Bhatt, aged 72, breathed his last on 28th August 2021 at his Dehradun residence.