Milk products like khoya, mawa, chenna, malai are extensively used to make traditional Indian sweets. With the festive season in full swing, sale of khoya and mawa is on the rise for making festive sweets at home. Barfi, peda, kalakand, rabri, halwa and more such Indian sweet recipes require the addition of khoya and mawa to enhance their taste and texture. Khoya makes the sweets richer, denser and creamier. If you are planning to get khoya for your festive spread, you need to be cautious while buying it. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has raised concerns regarding the quality of khoya being sold in Delhi and the rest of the country.
FSSAI found adulteration in some khoya samples during a pilot study in Delhi, after Federation of Sweets and Namkeen Manufacturers brought up the issue of adulterated khoya. Following this, FSSAI decided to launch a nationwide quality survey of khoya and mawa in order to provide safe milk products in the wake of the ongoing festive season and the upcoming festival of Diwali.
"The final survey results will help in identifying key hot spots for adulteration of khoya in different parts of the country and strengthen efforts at the state-level in devising targeted enforcement drives in the coming months," the FSSAI statement said.
(Also Read: 5 Best Khoya/Mawa Recipes You Must Try)
Homemade Indian festive sweets recipes use khoya as one of the ingredients.
FSSAI has directed Commissioner of Food Safety of all states to place mobile labs called 'Food Safety on Wheels' in all khoya mandis in big cities from October 12-16, 2020, and asked them to prompt the buyers to get their khoya samples tested in the labs.
For the pilot survey, Delhi government placed mobile labs at Mori Gate Khoya Mandi between August 31 and September 4, and the khoya samples were tested for three parameters - titratable acidity, maximum added starch and added sugar.
"Considering that there was some failure in the samples collected at Delhi during the pilot survey, it was decided to conduct a PAN-India Khoya quality survey," FSSAI added.
So, if you are in-and-around Khoya Mandi of your city to source milk products for sweets, it is advisable to get them tested to ensure safe festive celebrations.