The armed forces’ canteen stores department has discontinued its sale of Patanjali Ayurved’s amla juice following a laboratory report declaring it unfit for consumption, The Economic Times reported on Monday. In a notice to its outlets, the canteen stores department asked its depots to compile debit notes on their existing stock, which will be returned to the company.
The product was one of the company’s first launches, which were soon followed by its entry into the manufacturing of other products. “The batch was tested at the Central Food Lab in Kolkata and was declared unfit for consumption. Patanjali has withdrawn amla juice from all army canteens,” the English daily quoted two unidentified officials as saying.
The Canteen Stores Department and Patanjali Ayurved did not reply to the newspaper’s queries. The armed force’s department caters to around 120 lakh customers, which include serving personnel of the Army, Navy and the Air force as well as former staffers and their families, the English daily reported.
In December 2016, a court had fined the company, which is promoted by yoga guru Ramdev, Rs 11 lakh for “misbranding and putting up misleading advertisements” of their products. The additional district magistrate court in Haridwar said that five production units of Patanjali Ayurved were found guilty of misbranding after the company sold certain products with its label although they were manufactured somewhere else.
A report by the Associated Chambers of Commerce of India and TechSci Research, January, had found the company to be the biggest disruptive force in India’s Fast-Moving Consumer Goods sector in 2016.
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