Arishtas with alcohol content in demand

KOZHIKODE: Ayurvedic medicinal preparations like  ‘arishtas’ and  ‘asavas’  have made a comeback  to the district as a cheap substitute for alcohol under the pretext of major arishtam brands. 

These medicines with high alcohol content  are provided to the customers   after changing the brand name of the original ayurveda products.  The buyers are  mainly  migrant labourers who get the product for less than Rs 30 per ounce glass.

The sales of these medicines have gone up after the excise department took  stringent measures to control the flow of illicit liquor to the district.  It is the non-registered ayurvedic practitioners who are selling  such  concoctions.

Excise inspector B. Gireesh said, “a few years ago, the excise department had traced out such illegal ayurvedic outlets and they were charged with violating the Kerala Spirituous Preparations (Control) Rules 1969 and the Abkari Act. Now once again,  the sales of such duplicate arishtams have gone up,” he said.

“Recently,  when we examined the samples of some stocks seized during a raid on three outlets near Kallayi and Feroke, it was  noted that ‘Draksharishtam, a form of arishtam which already has alcohol content of 12 per cent due to the distilled grapes, is enriched by adding unacceptable amount of spirit to it. It  has  more effect than other alcohol preparations available,” he  pointed out. The product is being sold under the classification of arishtam.

During the raids conducted last week, the excise department arrested a person from Perambra on the charge of making ayurvedic preparations containing spirit.  Thirty  litres of spirit and 42 litres of  ‘arishtam’ were seized from the premises. The department is trying to identify more such outlets in the district.