Gurgaon: Around 600 kg of paneer being transported in drums for supply to food business operators in Gurgaon was found unfit for human consumption during an inspection on Friday night, with Haryana Food and Drug Administration commissioner Manoj Kumar monitoring the action.Two vehicles were involved — one carrying 500 kg and the other 100 kg. The consignment was stopped by police at Rojka Meo, after which the food safety team was called in for inspection. Samples from both vehicles were collected and will be sent to a laboratory for testing. It was not immediately clear why the authorities found the paneer unsatisfactory.The driver told officials the paneer was being transported from Bajidpur in Punhana for supply to various food business operators in Gurgaon. The food safety team destroyed the entire quantity by burying it in a pit at the site on Saturday, preventing it from entering the food supply chain.Nuh deputy commissioner Akhil Pilani said the administration would intensify the crackdown on such units and coordinate with other departments, including the pollution control board, to act against establishments found violating norms. “We will crack down further on these units and also coordinate with departments such as the pollution control board to ensure strict action against violators,” he said.In a separate action on Thursday, around 500 kg of paneer and 100 kg of milk were destroyed after a surprise inspection by the chief minister’s flying squad, Faridabad, at a dairy in Khaika village, Palwal, where cleanliness and hygiene conditions were found unsatisfactory.On Sept 10, a TOI report flagged clandestine manufacturing hubs in the Gondola belt producing synthetic paneer using skimmed milk mixed with palm oil, vegetable fats and soya paste. Following the report, nearly 7,600 kg of synthetic paneer was seized in overnight raids at three units along the Gurgaon canal in Gondola village and one in Nai, between 9pm on Sept 10 and 5am the next day.Last month, Haryana govt banned all forms of non-dairy paneer after finding it present in a large number of lab-tested samples. Kumar also issued a one-year statewide prohibition under Section 30(2)(a) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, covering analogue or non-dairy paneer and barring its preparation using milk powder or vegetable oil. Officials have been instructed to seize stocks and initiate criminal prosecution under the FSS Act, 2006.
