Madurai: Cooking oil, which was being sold in loose in two shops at the K Pudur Bus Stand and on a vehicle near Alagarkovil was seized by a team of food safety officials on Sunday evening. Officials said the seized oil was worth Rs 50,000.
Officials said they began the crackdown after coming to know that the shops were selling cooking oil in loose, despite being explained about the implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Act, which prohibited its sale, a month ago. Though the shop owners had assured to stop selling such oil, they did not take any steps. Seizure memos were issued to shopkeepers, officials said.
Designated officer for food safety, Dr M Somasundaram who led the raid said the rule prohibiting loose oil sale will be enforced slowly, but steadily. “The traders have been given adequate time. When they already have a manufacturer licence, what is stopping them from packing the oil while selling?” he asked.
Somasundaram said that palm oil is often sold as gingelly oil after mixing a few drops of essence. “There is nothing wrong in selling palm oil, but it should not be sold as other cooking oil. Adulteration in oil is rampant and it can be addressed when traders start selling them in packs,” Somasundaram said.
Officials said that when the announcement on implementation of the rule was issued, members of oil traders association had told them that it will pave way for increase in usage of plastic as they have to use plastic covers for packing. But, traders were already using plastic for packing loose oil as customers were not encouraged to bring containers.
Meanwhile, a group of regular customers, who were not aware of the happenings in the shops, and had come to make their purchase, were urged by Somasundaram to exercise discretion while choosing oils. People should not expect good quality oil at a cheaper price. “They should start suspecting the quality of oil when it is sold at throwaway prices,” he insisted.
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