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Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 10
India’s apex food regulator on Wednesday trashed recent internet forwards saying the US FDA had banned Haldiram products from sales on grounds of harmful ingredients, including marble dust, being found in them.
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India CEO Pawan Agarwal said these forwards were three years old when the USFDA had seized certain consignments of the food brand in question. He said even so, the part that marble dust was found in these products was bogus.
“There is absolutely no cause for panic among consumers of Haldiram foods. The internet forward in question is three years old. The USFDA action on Haldiram is also dated and old. It was part of the routine seizing of consignments by the USFDA and included many food brand consignments. Marble dust was never found in any of these products. We have been regularly inspecting the facilities of Haldiram and other food majors as part of our inspections. Everything is safe and as per our standards,” Agarwal said, adding that panic on account of a dated social media message was unwarranted.
Agarwal denied that the USFDA this week had issued bans on some Indian food majors.
On concerns around the marble dust in Haldiram bhujia, Agarwal said, “This is a bogus claim. Haldiram and other bhujia brands use a certain form of pulse locally available in Rajasthan to make their products crisp. There’s no marble dust.”
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