GCMMF to take stock of Amulspray ban

Maharashtra FDA's ban on the product unfortunate

Two days after the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered withdrawal of Amulspray infant milk powder from Mumbai city market following a complaint that insects were found inside a tin of the product, officials of Amul, the brand of Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), here said the federation is yet to decide its subsequent course of action.

Managing director of GCMMF, B M Vyas, on Thursday called this a stray incident and said shortly the federation will decide its future course of action.

"The order has been conveyed to us. I will call it a stray incident as utmost care is taken while filling the tins of Amulspray baby feed or any other Amul product including our chocolates. Amul is not like some other companies which have recently been accused of negligence while packing their products. We have a state-of-the-art system to seal every Amulspray container before taking the product to the market," Vyas said.

The managing director who was in the city to attend the inaugural function of a series of seminars being organised by the Som-Lalit Education and Research Foundation, said the order will not affect the sales of the product.

Following a complaint lodged by a woman from Mumbai, FDA commissioner, Uttamrao Khobragade, had on December 30 ordered immediate withdrawal of Amulspray from the Mumbai city market and investigations collecting samples of Amulspray from various vendors.

"The investigation is on as the sample collection process is taking time. It needs a very precise and specific investigation by the experts. It will be too early to comment on the issue," said a senior FDA official in Mumbai.

The official said the complainant also urged the FDA commissioner to lodge an FIR against the retailer from where the product was bought and also against the manufacturer, Amul.

However, I K Jadeja, health minister of Gujarat, said on Thursday, "We are yet to get any formal communiqu"� from the Maharashtra government about this development. Once we get any such report and confirmation of the authenticity of the complaint lodged there, the state government will take necessary steps to ensure that no infant's life is put at risk because of consumption of any particular brand of milk powder."