Diwali Sweets Under Scanner: Ahmedabad Civic Body Asks Traders to Self-Test Mawa Amid Delay in Lab Results
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Summarized by AI; it may make mistakes. Check important info
AHMEDABAD — With the festive rush around Diwali driving up demand for sweets, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has found itself under scrutiny over delayed laboratory test reports for food samples. Struggling to deliver timely quality checks, the civic body’s food department is shifting the onus of basic testing onto shopkeepers and consumers, directing major sweet and farsan vendors across the city to stock rapid testing kits.
Rapid Testing Kits Made Mandatory for Big Merchants
In a bid to curb adulteration, AMC Standing Committee Chairman Kamlesh Patel has instructed all sweet, mawa, and farsan vendors with a monthly turnover exceeding ₹5 lakh to maintain rapid testing kits on their premises. The move comes in the wake of recent seizures involving fake and non-edible mawa entering the local market ahead of Diwali.
Priced at approximately ₹3,000, these specialized kits allow quick on-site detection of starch contamination in mawa. Officials confirmed that around 350 traders have already acquired the testing gear to ensure immediate screening.
Food Department Lacks Exact Turnover Data
Despite enforcing the new rule, the AMC food department admitted it does not possess exact records for how many establishments hit the ₹5 lakh monthly turnover mark. Officials estimate that Ahmedabad houses between 1,000 and 1,200 sweet and farsan shops in total.
Civic authorities stated that while very small vendors might be exempted from the requirement, efforts are underway to cover as many shops as possible across the city.
Shoppers to Get On-the-Spot Training from Food Inspectors
In an unusual step to empower buyers, the food department plans to train customers directly at retail points. When food inspectors conduct shop visits, they will demonstrate how to operate the rapid testing kits to consumers present at the counter.
Furthermore, shopkeepers will be obligated to explain the testing procedure to any customer who wishes to verify the purity of mawa or sweet ingredients before buying, creating an open self-checking mechanism across retail outlets ahead of the festival.
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, Diwali Mawa Adulteration, AMC Food Department, Rapid Testing Kits, Sweets Quality Check Ahmedabad, Kamlesh Patel AMC, Fake Mawa Test Ahmedabad, Festival Food Safety Gujarat
