Spurious mehendi cone manufacturing unit raided, huge stock seized in Hyderabad

Telangana officials gathered intelligence regarding manufacturing of spurious mehendi cones using a synthetic dye Picramic acid at an unlicensed premises Shakil Industries at Mehdipatnam and carried out a surprise raid on Tuesday.

J. Kiran Kumar, Drugs Inspector, Hanamkonda gathered intelligence regarding movement of a spurious cosmetic under the name ‘Special Karachi Mehendi Cone’ in the market and on identifying the cosmetic product was manufactured by Shakil Industries, sent it for testing at Drugs Control Laboratory, Hyderabad.

Drugs Control Laboratory, Hyderabad issued a test report indicating the presence of Picramic acid, which is a synthetic dye and should not be used in henna cones as per the standards of ‘Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) IS 17318:2020’.

A raid detected manufacturing of Special Karachi Mehendi Cone without a cosmetic manufacturing licence and officials seized huge stock of cones from Mohammed Yousuf Ali, Proprietor of Shakil Industries. Further investigation would be carried out and action taken as per the law against all the offenders, a press release said.

Cosmetics manufactured at unlicensed facilities may not meet quality standards prescribed by BIS and such cosmetics may have serious implications on public health. Cosmetic products which do not bear the details of ‘Licence’ on the label imply that they have been manufactured at unlicensed facilities and such cosmetic products may contain ingredients harmful to public health, the release added.