The packaging of the box is done in such a way that anyone would mistake it for real ghee.
HighLights
Consumers are buying a mixture of vegetable oil and chemicals. It is being sold from shops to e-commerce websites as well. Many brands write the taste like light ghee or desi ghee on the pack.
Lokesh Solanki, Naiduniya Indore (Nakli Ghee). Imitations of ghee and butter are being sold with tag lines like taste like desi ghee, light ghee, puja ghee and better than butter. Under the illusion of ghee, consumers are buying a mixture of vegetable oil and chemicals from shops and super stores.
Such products are being sold from shops to e-commerce websites also. The consignment of more than five thousand kilos of fake ghee caught a day ago in Indore is also actually a part of this marketing strategy. The loophole in the rules is such that despite making and selling imitation ghee, these businessmen are saved from adulteration proceedings.
Taste like light ghee and desi ghee
Many brands even write the taste like light ghee or desi ghee on the pack. In this, the word Ghee is made bold and the rest of the text is shortened. Cooking medium is written on them in the corner or in very small letters. Consumers get lured by pure ghee being cheaper by Rs 100 to Rs 200. Seeing the brand name and packing, he buys it considering it to be real ghee.
Pooja Ghee is completely fake
The ghee sold in the shops of puja items in the name of puja ghee is completely fake. Many of these are made from inedible oils. The common consumer reads sacred words like puja along with ghee and buys it considering it to be genuine. In the past years, many brands have launched such puja ghee one after the other. The ambiguity of the rules is giving them freedom to sell fake ghee.
no rules of action
According to High Court lawyer Nimesh Pathak, usually the businessmen making such products do not write desi ghee or pure ghee on the packing. Cooking medium, ghee-like taste or ghee substitute are written on them. Or just the picture of ghee is printed and the brand name is printed. Actually, there is no provision anywhere in the law to ban such tagline or picture.
In such a situation, legal action cannot be taken against them for adulteration or selling fake ghee. On the back of the pack, they write the details of the ingredients in fine print, which the consumer generally does not read. Even after writing puja ghee, they remain safe from action because they argue that it is not for eating but for puja.
Vegetable fat is being sold
Hydrogenated oil and vegetable fat are being sold in the market as alternatives to ghee. Due to this, consumers are cheated and the credibility of the brands in the market also reduces. The government should make clear rules that on any such product it should be clearly written in capital letters that it is not ghee. – Motisingh Patel, President, Indore Milk Union
