Reports of adulterated food items in market
The government will strengthen all measures to prevent adulteration of food items in the market, including rice, coconut oil, fruits and vegetables, Health Minister V.S. Sivakumar has said.
There was no need for panic regarding rumours about plastic content in the rice available in the market as scientific tests of several samples of rice across the State had failed to detect the presence of such contamination, he added, following a high-level meeting convened at the Secretariat here on Wednesday. He was referring to recent media reports on plastic contamination in rice sold in the State.
Agriculture Minister K.P. Mohanan and Civil Supplies Minister Anoop Jacob were present at the meeting.
The Secretaries of the departments concerned had been asked to formulate specific action plans to check adulteration of food items. Following complaints about plastic content in rice, the Food Safety Department had examined over 25 samples of rice from various parts of the State, but had found the allegations to be untrue.
The public could test samples of rice to check for adulteration or plastic content at the analytical labs of the government in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode directly or through the Food Safety officials.
2,000 samples tested
Coconut oil adulterated with mineral oils had not been detected anywhere in the State in the past two years, though the Food Safety Department had tested over 2,000 samples. Some 300 samples of coconut oil were found to have been contaminated with edible palm oil and palm kernel oil and action had been initiated against the manufacturers and distributors.
- No reason to panic, people told
- Public can test rice samples at State analytical labs
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