Kolhapur: Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Kolhapur confiscated around 5,000 kg of jaggery falsified from three Jaggery houses based in various parts of the district.
The action of sowing the Jaggery of Kolhapur who has received a geographical indication tag (GI) in 2014 is not immune to defense and if it is constantly then Jagger-in-Kolhapur can lose sheen in the near future.
Mohan Kembalkar, Assistant Commissioner FDA Kolhapur, said, “We have captured the jaggery that was falsified from Padali, Vandur and Chikali during random inspections , 25 lakh.
We have sent samples for further analysis of chemicals.
Jaggery must be produced from sugarcane juice and no use of sugar allowed in accordance with food security standards.
“FDA officials claimed that while the use of sugar in making jaggery was prohibited, sugar Used increases the sulfur content outside the boundary which is permitted from 70 parts per million (ppm).
“Sugar is made by excess sulfitization, the process of adding sulfur dioxide gas to purify sugar cane juice.
When used in making jaggery, the final result will definitely have more sulfur content which is another violation of food security standards,” said Kembalkar.
Jigger makers from Kolhapur Regency have welcomed the action.
Farmers make jaggery tend to use sugar to make profitable margins and accelerate the process of making jaggery.
Sugar is sold at Rs 30 per kg while Jaggery takes more than Rs 40 per kg.
Vikram Patil, a jaggery expert, said, “Most of the times, the stick is not mature to produce enough sugar and sugar cane as it is used to make a jaggery.
To increase the sweet sugar added.
The original Kolhapuri Jaggery is a boring task.”