The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s food department has seized 170 packets of suspected fake silver foil from a trader in Kalupur after a rapid test on foil applied to biscuits in Memco indicated that it was not genuine silver leaf. The department also sealed the trader’s shop after he failed to provide details of the businesses supplied or the source of the material.
According to municipal food department head Dr Tejas Shah, the action began after officials noticed biscuits coated with silver foil at a roadside stall in the Memco area. A rapid test kit was used to examine the foil, following which the department traced the supply chain to a trader in Kalupur.
The inspection team used a decoy customer during its inquiry before conducting a raid at the trader’s premises. Officials found 170 packets of duplicate silver foil, with each packet containing 10 sheets. Samples of the silver foil were collected and sent for further examination. The team also found original gold leaf at the premises and sent samples of both the silver and gold leaf for testing.
The department sought purchase and sales records, including details of the establishments to which the trader had supplied the suspected fake silver foil and information on where it had been procured. The trader did not provide the requested details, after which officials sealed the shop, the report said.
The action highlights the municipal food department’s role in tracing food-related materials beyond the point where a product is sold to consumers. In this case, the inquiry moved from biscuits displayed at a roadside stall to a wholesale trader, with the department using a decoy purchase and supply records as part of its investigation. The report did not identify the biscuit brands or the establishments that may have received the foil.
In a separate inspection in Madhupura, municipal officials collected samples of ghee from traders dealing in different brands. Rapid testing did not detect vegetable fat in the samples, but the samples were sent to the public health laboratory for further examination. The report did not provide the laboratory results or identify the brands tested.
The department also collected four samples of mawa from a cold storage facility in Gomtipur. One sample from Tulsi Mawa Centre near Dada Hari’s Stepwell in Asarwa was declared substandard, according to the report. Officials were informed that the mawa had been brought from Vallabhnagar in Udaipur, Rajasthan. The Ahmedabad department notified the Gujarat Food and Drugs Department and the Rajasthan government about the finding.
Officials detained 510 kilograms of mawa linked to the outlet and sealed the shop. Further action on the silver foil, ghee and mawa samples will depend on the findings of the respective laboratory examinations and the department’s investigation into the supply records.
