Protesting against the adulteration of sago with wet starch, members of the Tamil Nadu Tapioca Natural Sago Manufacturers Association continued their strike for the third consecutive day.
Members said that since harvest of tapioca season began, all the sago processing units were functioning in the district and nearby districts. They were producing 100 per cent chemical free sago that has good market in North India. But allege that wet starch, produced by mixing banned chemicals, were supplied by manufacturers from Attur and Thalaivasal areas. Though in 2012 the then Collector J. Kumaragurubaran issued five guidelines for functioning of these units, the manufacturers failed to follow it later. Hence, adulteration continues, they said.
Members said that if adulteration is allowed to continue, tapioca starch will no longer be needed and the crop cultivated in over one lakh acre in the State will go wasted. They wanted officials from Food Safety Department to inspect these units immediately and take action against them for adulteration. Members wanted the Collector to ban the wet starch trading.
Wet starch
Meanwhile, Collector V. Dakshinamoorthy has called for a meeting of natural sago and wet starch manufacturers and others involved in activities related to the industry.
The meeting will be held at the Collectorate on Tuesday.
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