Outrage erupted in Rajasthan’s Udaipur after it came to notice that Pakistan-made candy containing beef gelatine was being sold in the city. Shockingly, these chocolates were being sold at a shop just 50 meters away from the city’s police control room.
Upon receiving a complaint on Wednesday, state Food Inspector Ashok Gupta and a team from the Medical and Health Department arrived at the shop named Chocolate and Birthday Decoration Items at the Delhi Gate intersection of Udaipur and seized all of the beef toffees. The toffee samples have been sent to the forensic lab for testing.
During the investigation, it was discovered that toffee is also supplied to other shops in the city from this shop. When questioned, the shopkeeper stated that he purchased the toffees containing beef gelatine from Mumbai’s Crawford market, however, he did not receive a bill for the toffees. The shopkeeper also revealed that he bought 3 boxes of the Chili Mili beef chocolate, and only one toffee was sold. Two sealed packets containing 24 toffees were found, while there were 23 toffees in the packet that was opened.
After this, the state’s Health Department is investigating other shops in the city.
Notably, the local people upon noticing the ingredients of the toffee objected to its sales and urged the authorities to stop its sales immediately.
It is pertinent to mention that on the pack of toffee named ‘Chili Mili’, ‘Made in Pakistan’ is written and an address of Balochistan was also mentioned. It lists beef gelatine as one of the ingredients of the product. Along with other text in Urdu, ‘Manufactured by Ismail industries Limited C-230, HITE Hub, Balochistan, Pakistan’ was written. Each packet of this toffee costs Rs 20. The packet also has a red mark used for non-vegetarian food items.
Chili Mili is made by Candyland, reportedly the largest confectionery brand in Pakistan. CandyLand is a brand of Ismail Industries which has its head offices in Karachi in Pakistan. The Company’s factory is located in Balochistan. Candyland manufactures a wide range of confectionery products including chocolates, toffees, gums, lollipops, jellies, chews, candies etc.
It is notable that Chili Mili is also available on e-commerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart in India.
Gelatine is a common ingredient used in the food processing industry, where it is mostly used as a gelling agent. Gelatine comes from collagen collected from the bones of animals, and it is a common product produced by the meat processing industry. While beef is a common source of gelatien in most other countries, in India, it is procured from other animals, mostly buffalo bones.
