Jharkhand’s only authorised bottling plant for food and beverage giant PepsiCo — expected to keep players and their fans cool during the high-voltage IPL matches in Ranchi later this week — is under scanner for alleged adulteration of branded soft drinks.
A team from East Singhbhum health department on Tuesday raided the warehouse of decade-old SMV Beverages Private Limited at Kasidih in Sakchi, Jamshedpur, and collected samples of seven carbonated and fruit drinks for lab tests in Namkum, Ranchi. While the report is likely to arrive before weekend, it is not clear whether the consignment for IPL — which was supposed to reach the capital in a day or two — will be withdrawn.
The SMV Beverages plant in Adityapur on Tata-Kandra Road has been in operation since 1999. It receives concentrates from PepsiCo’s Gurgaon unit. These are diluted with carbonated water and saccharine/sugar.
Civil surgeon Jagat Bhusan Prasad, who led the team also comprising additional chief medical officer (ACMO) Kalicharan Munda and district food inspector Mahesh Pandey, said raid rights were sanctioned by principal secretary (health) K. Vidyasagar.
“We had sought permission from the health department after complaints of adulteration like use of saccharine instead of sugar and that too exceeding permissible limits were received. We expect lab results within a couple of days. The same will be sent to the health department for further action,” Prasad said.
Sources confirmed samples of seven sweetened aerated drinks — Pepsi (can), Pepsi (bottle), Mirinda (bottle), Mountain Dew (bottle), Seven Up (bottle) and Slice (bottle) — had been sent to Namkum.
Promised anonymity, they claimed that the principal secretary’s directive came in the wake of expected bulk consumption of Pepsi — the official IPL sponsor from this year — during the two Kolkata Knight Riders matches on May 12 and 15.
“Around 1,000 crates were stocked at the warehouse for supply across the state, particularly T20-bound Ranchi. The lab will test for microbiological contents and other parameters such as sugar content and use of artificial sweetener (sodium saccharine). As per the Food Safety and Standards Act, saccharine is not allowed in fruit beverages (Slice) and is allowed only up to 100ppm (parts per million) in carbonated drinks,” said an official who was part of the raid team.
Food inspector Pandey said that if the lab report confirmed adulteration as suspected, SMV Beverages would be liable to pay a fine of Rs 3 lakh and its proprietor might serve a prison term up to six months. “Keeping IPL matches in mind, we have asked the lab to send its report by May 11. Under normal circumstances it takes at least a week,” he added.
Confirming the raid, Jharkhand marketing head of PepsiCo Arvind Tiwary said they had co-operated with the inspection team, but were confident of their good quality. “We adhere to international standards, which is monitored at regular intervals by our internal quality experts. We are confident that the lab report will be in our favour,” he said.
On whether the consignment of beverages meant for IPL would be sent to Ranchi if the samples tested positive, Tiwary said a decision would then be taken by the senior management and match organisers.
Officials at SMV Beverages in Adityapur and Sakchi refused to speak to the media, saying only their chief executive officer P.S. Kumar was authorised to comment on the raids.
CEO Kumar could not be contacted till the filing of this report.
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