The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s food department seized about 10,630 kg of sauce and raw material from a unit near Gota railway station on October 17, after officials found a tomato-sauce-like product allegedly being made without tomatoes. The premises, identified as Aai Shri Khodiyar Gruh Udyog in Meldi Estate, were sealed following the raid.
According to details reported by Gujarat Samachar, officials found a product prepared using papaya pulp, potatoes, sugar and a colour described as potentially hazardous to health. The material was reportedly being filled into small containers and sold as tomato sauce. The food department also collected samples for laboratory examination to establish the composition of the product and assess the nature of the colour used.
The seized material was allegedly supplied for use with fast food such as dabeli, vada pav, sandwiches and burgers. Small food vendors were reportedly using the product or serving it to customers as tomato sauce. This has raised concerns about whether consumers were being given accurate information about the ingredients in the sauce accompanying commonly purchased street food and quick-service meals.
The action is significant because sauces are often served as an unlabelled accompaniment rather than purchased directly by consumers in sealed retail packaging. Customers buying dabeli, vada pav or sandwiches generally have limited visibility into the source, ingredients or manufacturing conditions of the sauce placed in their food. The food department’s laboratory testing will determine whether the seized product breached applicable food-safety standards.
Officials also found that the unit had previously faced action over cleanliness issues and had been sealed earlier, according to the report. Its reappearance in a food-safety operation has brought renewed attention to how previously acted-against food units are monitored and whether sealing orders are effectively enforced before operations resume.
The Gota raid follows an earlier action on the Danilimda-Pirana Road, where the food department reportedly seized about two tonnes of a similar product allegedly made without tomatoes but sold as tomato sauce. The two incidents have placed the production and distribution of low-cost sauces used by fast-food vendors under scrutiny in Ahmedabad.
The food department has sealed the Gota unit, seized the stock and indicated that penalty proceedings will follow. Further action will depend on the laboratory findings and the department’s assessment of the unit’s compliance with food-safety requirements.
