Jammu and Kashmir government has banned Rani juice and advised people to avoid its consumption till further orders.
The direction has come after a Srinagar resident, Yaseer Ahmad complained to CAPD against the product.
Yaseer got a shock of his life when a carton of Rani juice tins he had purchased from the market burst in his house.
Ahmad had purchased the juice tins from a shop at Kani Tar, here. “We were shocked as the juice tins burst with loud crash in my house,” he told.
“I didn’t know what happened but after a while I found the date of expiry mentioned on the tins was fudged,” he alleged adding that while the actual date of expiry written on the tins was 03/05/2014, “but the company had overwritten dates extending it till end of 2015.”
While discovering the fraud, he informed the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution department Srinagar who raided the shop and found his complaint genuine.
Talking to us, Director CAPD, Kashmir A. R War said that on receiving the complaint they raided the shop and found the company had overwritten manufacturing and expiry dates of its brand Rani Juice and it was being sold everywhere in the state.
“We have filed the case against the Rani Juice manufacturers and people are advised not to drink the juice till further orders,” he said, adding that the company has been asked to recall their stocks forthwith.
He said the product has been banned in both regions of Jammu and Kashmir.
“We don’t want to take any chance as the expired product can have severe ramifications on human health so as a precautionary measure, the government has banned it in the state till further orders,” he said.
War also lauded the complainant for coming forward and lodging complaint with CAPD. “People must come forward to complain adulteration or malpractices so that the unscrupulous elements are taken to task.”
Experts said the incident of Rani Juice should serve as an eye-opener for people indulging in malpractice.
They said the sale of substandard and outdated products in Kashmir region is going on unabatedly without any interventions from the authorities which led to many health complications.
“Few years back, there were few local companies found selling adulterated food items, but hardly any action was taken against them,” they add.
