A popular product of Yoga Guru Baba Ram Dev’s Patanjali Ayurveda has been found unfit for human consumption after lab testing.
The retail platform of India’s defence forces, Canteen Stores Department (CSD) that caters to over 12 million consumers suspended sales of Amla Juice (juice of Indian gooseberry) manufactured by Patanjali Ayurveda following an adverse lab testing report, The Economic Times reports.
Quoting officials privy to the development, the report news report says the Patanjali has withdrawn the product from all army canteens.
The testing was done at the same laboratory in Kolkata that also detected high levels of lead in Nestle’s Maggie noodles.
Defending the product, Patanjali said it’s Amla Juice was not a food product and did not fall under the purview of India’s food regulator.
Source: Patanjali Ayurveda
“It comes under the purview of the Ministry of AYUSH. The test conducted by the Central Food Laboratory in Kolkata was done following the standards set by FSSAI. Our amla juice is a medicinal product and is safe for consumption,” Live Mint quoted a spokesperson at Patanjali Ayurved as saying.
The company claims the product is safe to consume.
This is not the first time the Yoga Guru’s company got caught into controversies with regards to its products. Previously, Patanjali was for misleading advertisements and its Noodles and Pasta products were banned after they were sold without a license.
Outlook reports that Patanjali Ayurveda also failed the food quality test which was organised by the District Food Safety Department.
The company claims it's Amla Juice is useful in treating immunodeficiency, hyper-acidity, eye, skin diseases and delays ageing.
Patanjali's Amla Juice and other products are available for sale both online and over the counter in Australia. However, it's not clear whether those batches are affected.
