Food for children in beef packaging, probe ordered

State Women and Child Development Minister Anita Bhadel said it was only a “packaging mistake”.

A mistake by a self-help group created a scare in some villages in Bharatpur, when nutrition supplement under Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) was distributed in discarded beef packets at 15-odd anganwadi centres. Rajasthan government has ordered a probe and instructed officials to change the packaging at once.

Around 15 centres in Alamshah, Bagaka, Larka, Kurkain and Mudiya villages saw the nutrition supplement distributed in discarded packets of minced beef. The pink and white packets with the illustration of a cow were those of ‘Extra Lean Aberdeen Angus Beef Mince’, manufactured by British firm Waitrose. The supplement was meant for children aged between 0-6 years.

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While residents could not identify the English labeling, a doctor associated with RBSK spotted it and alerted the authorities. “I saw it during an inspection. The workers there, who are mostly illiterate, said this packaging was being used for the past six months,” said Dr Lalit Vyas, in-charge of the mobile health team under RBSK in this sub-division.

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Officials at the district women and child welfare department, however, said it was a one-off incident. “One of the SHGs ran out of plastic bags they regularly use and purchased some bags from the market. Since they can’t read English, they did not know about the beef labeling,” Meenakshi Meena, deputy director of the department, said.

State Women and Child Development Minister Anita Bhadel said it was only a “packaging mistake”.

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