Coca-Cola fined

In a major bust made by the Food and Drugs Control Administration (FDCA) near Kheda in 2022, around 8,000 kg of frozen orange pulp from Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd (HCCB) was found to be misbranded. In this case, a fine of ₹15 lakh has been slapped by the adjudicating officer on the five individuals named in the complaint.

As per the FDCA commissioner, Dr HG Koshia, during a routine inspection in June 2022 at Coldman Logistics Pvt Ltd in Gobhalaj village, Kheda, the FDCA-Nadiad team landed upon the mislabeled imported ingredient, frozen orange pulp from the HCCB.

Further inspection revealed a total of 8,000 kg of the Peace River Citrus Products- a Florida-based supplier’s frozen orange pulp stored in 400 boxes of 20 kg each.

Designated officers and food safety officers from the Nadiad-Kheda office jointly conducted a successful raid and collected samples of the suspected food item in the presence of the company’s nominee.

The suspected batch, worth an estimated ₹11 lakh, was seized on the spot.

The sample was sent to the Food Analyst, Bhuj, in August 2022 for testing as per regulations, who declared this consignment misbranded.

After a thorough probe, the FDCA officer filed a complaint against a total of five individuals before the adjudicating officer, Kheda (Nadiad), in November 2023.

Subsequently, the penalty is now imposed on the five accused, considering the seriousness of the offence.

A similar complaint was also filed against HCCB in 2021 for a similar offence, for which the adjudicating officer had imposed a total penalty of ₹8 lakh.

Overall, adjudicating officers across the state have penalised food sellers and producers of over ₹37 cr in total to date for food samples being declared substandard or misbranded.