70
STUDIES
ON
THE
QUALITY
OF
Ghee [Vol. XXIII, Part I,
U. P. ghee is valued as the best ghee available in the market, due to low acid, low
B. R. and high R. M. values, and fetches the maximum price. The quality has,
however, deteriorated after the war but even now 66.6 per cent are of 'special grade,
and 20 per cent of 'general grade'. Of late, the Calcutta market is being supplied
largely by Guntur ghee which, however, is inferior to Uttar Pradesh ghee in quality,
due to high acid, high B. R. and low R. M. values, and is available at a lower price.
The quality has now much improved and 66.6 per cent are now found to conform
to the AGMARK 'general grade'. 'Special grade' ghee is, however, very rare in this
area. The quality of ghee of unknown source, has deteriorated much. Instead
of 80 per cent 'special grade' ghee previously obtained the amount now available
is only 10 per cent. As much as 30 per cent of the samples did not conform to the
AGMARK of Government specifications and were rejected on grounds of quality and
purity. The high acid values of a number of samples might be due to long storage
in the humid conditions of Bengal but the provincial authorities do not take into
consideration this value for rejecting a sample of ghee.
Quality of ghee collected from the retail markets
In order to ascertain the position of buffalo ghee in the retail markets of Calcutta
the present authors actually purchased small quantities of ghee during the months
July-August, 1950, from a number of retail shops selected at random from the
principal markets within the jurisdiction of the corporation of Calcutta and published
a preliminary report in the Science and Culture [Guha, 1950]. The samples were
collected from tins which are usually kept exposed till completely sold out in the
retail market. The results detailed in Table VI and summarised in Table VII
show that the quality of ghee available in the retail market is far worse than that,
in the wholesale market.
Out of 25 samples analysed only five were found to conform to the AGMARK speci-
fications and the rest were either simply hydrogenated oil, or ghee adulterated with
hydrogenated oil, or highly rancid ghee unfit for consumption. It is noticed that
in a large number of cases simply coloured hydrogenated oil is being sold as buffalo
ghee under the very nose of the Public Health Authorities. In one particular case
the authors noticed that a stuff selling at a price as high as rupees nine per seer
contained only hydrogenated oil and nothing else. All these products were, however,
found to be adulterated by the simple Villevecchia test not to speak of the other
complicated methods prescribed for the detection of adulteration.
The question is why such a thing happens when there are people to detect
such crimes and when persons found guilty of such crimes are punishable by law.
It might be due to the fact that it is easier to keep vigilant eyes on the few wholesale
dealers than on the very large number of retail dealers. Moreover, persons found
guilty of such crimes are in most cases simply fined, which the unscrupulous merchant
may afford to pay. The punishment, in the opinion of the authors, is not deterrent
enough to prevent repeatition of such crimes.
The chemical methods for the detection of adulteration and the different provi-
sions of the law are all essential to prevent the practice of adulteration, it is true,
but something more should be done for the common man who cannot be expected
to analyse each and every sample of ghee before purchasing it from the retail market.