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Harmful acid in Bengali sweetmeats: Report: The Hindustan Times
Kolkata, Dec 03: Before you pop the next rosogolla, think twice. It might contain a hazardous acid often used for cleaning toilets, says an official survey in West Bengal.
Kolkata, Dec 03: Before you pop the next rosogolla, think twice. It might contain a hazardous acid often used for cleaning toilets, says an official survey in West Bengal.
The survey by the state milk federation found that many small shop owners were selling sweetmeats made of casein - the main ingredient in such products - that had been prepared with muriatic acid.
Casein should be prepared with citric acid, but milk traders and sweetmeat makers find muriatic acid cheaper. Muriatic acid is, however, considered harmful for health.
The government is believed to be considering ways of handling the "sensitive issue" because of larger public health concerns.
"The government is looking into the matter. This is a sensitive issue because on the one hand there is the question of public health and on the other a large casein-making industry," according to animal husbandry department official Jayanta Dutta Gupta. Usually casein is supplied to sweetmeat makers from villages. The casein is then washed with water before being used in sweets like rosogolla and sandesh. But traces of muriatic acid remain in the cleaned casein.
The government is caught in a bind because it is stressing on preparing casein through automatic machines, but that again will mean loss of jobs for villagers involved in making casein.
"A balance has to be struck," said Dutta Gupta adding that another survey would soon start to find a remedy to the situation.
Sweetmeat makers are trying to defend themselves by saying there is no way they can find out what their suppliers are using to prepare the casein.
"We get all our casein from villages. We have no means to check what is used to make it," says Sanat Mistry, a sweetmeat shop owner.
West Bengal's sweetmeat industry is worth about Rs 20 billion and it employs about one million people. The state has about 100,000 big and small sweet shops.
The state's sweetmeat industry is undergoing a technological transformation to brace for competition from the confectionery and ice cream industries.
It also perceives a threat to traditional sweets from new patenting laws and is registering its indigenous products before a foreign company hijacks the rosogolla or mishti doi.
Bengali sweetmeats have a good demand in the markets of Europe and the US
Some innovative sweetmeat makers in the city have introduced "herbal sweets" that are being certified by food technologists as not only safe but also high in medicinal and food value. West Bengal has given the world at least 40 varieties of sweetmeats, some of which are available only in the state. The rosogolla, a soft succulent ball of casein dipped in sugar syrup, is perhaps the most famous of the lot.
Casein should be prepared with citric acid, but milk traders and sweetmeat makers find muriatic acid cheaper. Muriatic acid is, however, considered harmful for health.
The government is believed to be considering ways of handling the "sensitive issue" because of larger public health concerns.
"The government is looking into the matter. This is a sensitive issue because on the one hand there is the question of public health and on the other a large casein-making industry," according to animal husbandry department official Jayanta Dutta Gupta. Usually casein is supplied to sweetmeat makers from villages. The casein is then washed with water before being used in sweets like rosogolla and sandesh. But traces of muriatic acid remain in the cleaned casein.
The government is caught in a bind because it is stressing on preparing casein through automatic machines, but that again will mean loss of jobs for villagers involved in making casein.
"A balance has to be struck," said Dutta Gupta adding that another survey would soon start to find a remedy to the situation.
Sweetmeat makers are trying to defend themselves by saying there is no way they can find out what their suppliers are using to prepare the casein.
"We get all our casein from villages. We have no means to check what is used to make it," says Sanat Mistry, a sweetmeat shop owner.
West Bengal's sweetmeat industry is worth about Rs 20 billion and it employs about one million people. The state has about 100,000 big and small sweet shops.
The state's sweetmeat industry is undergoing a technological transformation to brace for competition from the confectionery and ice cream industries.
It also perceives a threat to traditional sweets from new patenting laws and is registering its indigenous products before a foreign company hijacks the rosogolla or mishti doi.
Bengali sweetmeats have a good demand in the markets of Europe and the US
Some innovative sweetmeat makers in the city have introduced "herbal sweets" that are being certified by food technologists as not only safe but also high in medicinal and food value. West Bengal has given the world at least 40 varieties of sweetmeats, some of which are available only in the state. The rosogolla, a soft succulent ball of casein dipped in sugar syrup, is perhaps the most famous of the lot.