Mango bite harms tooths: Parle asked to recall the stock

Mumbai, 14 October 2012

The Maharashtra unit of the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has asked Mumbai-based Parle Products, the manufacturer of Mango Bite, the yellow-and-green-colour-wrapped candy, to recall from the marketplace the entire stock, saying it was “unsafe”. So far, stocks of the candy have been seized in Nashik and Konkan in Maharashtra.

FDA officials say the company was using buffered lactic acid, an ingredient not permitted under the Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006 in Mango Bite, hence the decision to order a recall of the product. The use of lactic acid (chiefly found in milk products) has been banned in foodstuff after a bench found it not good for consumption due to its tooth-decaying side effects.

In 2009 and 2010, the company, Parle was asked to take the product off shelves because it was using a colour not permitted under the Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006.