Dehra Dun : Just prior to the the festival lights and perhaps when the maximum number of dry fruits and sweetmeats are brought and consumed, Society of Pollution and Environmental Conservation Scientists (SPECS) made public their report of the various food samples that they had collected from the markets of four cities and there was mass scale adulteration for out of the 1062 samples collected, as many as 952 were found adulterated.
A spokesman of SPECS said that the 1062 samples had been collected from the state capital Dehra Dun besides Mussoorie, a famous tourist destination, Haridwar where a number of pilgrims come every day and Roorkee from Oct 31 to November 8 and there was high level of adulteration found in various commodities that samples were taken of. 
In the state capital 100 per cent of mustard oil samples taken were found adulterated, while 94 per cent of ‘dhaniya’ samples were adulterated. Besides, adulteration was also found in samples of milk, red chilli powder, black chilli powder, cloves, refined oil, honey, coffee, tea leaves, biscuits, almond, cashews and even biscuits.
Asserting that the samples had been tested in laboratories certified and supported by the department of science and technology the spokesman claimed that mustard oil had been adulterated with varying proportions of mobil oil, while sweetmeat shop owners were mixing Chinese dry milk powder with vegetable oil to make milk cake.
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.
