Larvae, insects found in Parle biscuits, Amul milk powder

Our Corporate Bureau
30 December 2003

Pune: In two separate incidents, customers found larvae in a Parle biscuits pack while an Amul skimmed pack was found to contain insects.

In a stomach-churning incident, a customer in Pune on purchasing a pack of Parle-G biscuits, manufactured by Parle Products Ltd, found cobwebs and larvae in the biscuits. The customer had purchased the biscuits from Family Super Mart in Vimannagar, Pune, on 15 December 2003 and on finding the contents spoilt and containing germs, he went and bought four packs of the same batch and manufacturing date and then packed and sealed them in a clean plastic container as per government rules.

After video-shooting the whole process he gave the samples to the deputy director of health service at the state public health laboratory in the city.

Subsequent to this tests on samples of India''s first glucose biscuit confirmed the presence of cobwebs and larvae and an examination report of the state public health laboratory, dated 16 December 2003 states: "The sample of Parle-G biscuits is unfit for human consumption, as per the Prevention of Food Adulteration [PFA] rules of 1955 and the Act of 1955."

The lab had tested two unopened and duly sealed samples from the same batch that the consumer had originally found contaminated.

In another incident, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has detected insects in a tin of Amul milk power and the Maharashtra FDA commissioner has said it would soon file a first information report against the company.