Six Kerala warehouses sealed after pepper adulteration complaints

Mumbai, Dec 24: 

Six commodity warehouses in Kerala have been sealed over the complaint of adulteration in black pepper stock and authorities of Food Safety there are now awaiting laboratory reports.

The warehouses, accredited by the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), were sealed on Friday.

“We have sealed six warehouses in Ernakulam and Alappuzha district in Kerala over the complaint of adulteration in pepper stock, received last week. We have collected the samples of the said commodity and sent the same to laboratory for inspection,” Commissioner Food Safety-Kerala, Biju Prabhakar told PTI here.

“We need to check and proper valuation needs to be done of this commodity. We are waiting for the laboratory reports, Prabhakar said.

NCDEX chief, Corporate Services, M K Ananda Kumar said, “We were accepting black pepper deposits as per our standard specifications only. The mineral oil issue has been raised for the first time. We are looking into the complaint lodged by buyers for mineral oil content. We are in touch with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for further course of action.”

The seized stock of pepper allegedly contains mineral oil which is an adulterant and not allowed to be used in any human consumption commodity, sources familiar with the development said, adding that it must have been used to suppress fungus/ moulds and give more weight and dark black colour to pepper.

According to Food Safety and Security Act of India, under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, there is no permission on use of any mineral oil in pepper.

Sources said pepper stocks of 5,000/7000 tonnes costing around Rs 250-300 crore have been seized.

Traders fear no delivery of pepper on the NCDEX platform, as the exchange does not have any in any other warehouse.

Keywords: Six commodity warehouses, accredited by National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange, NCDEX in Kerala, sealed, complaint of adulteration in black pepper stock, authorities of Food Safety, awaiting laboratory reports

Return 39 batches of seized candy: HC to FDA

Relief for Parle Court observes similar action not taken against others. In the dispute between Parle Biscuits Private Limited and the state Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) Department, the Bombay High Court recently directed the department to return the company’s stock of lactic acid and 39 batches of its product Kaccha Mango Bite.
Parle moved HC after FDA in October raided its factories in Nashik and Raigad and seized the candies worth Rs 2.36 crore.
The department had claimed that lactic acid, which is present in the confectionery, is a banned substance under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. It had also taken action on the grounds that the product contained colour beyond permissible limits.
However, a division bench of Justice S J Vazifdar and Justice R Y Ganoo held that there was no evidence to suggest that lactic acid was banned under the Act.
While the judges noted that similar action had not been taken against other manufacturers, they clarified that their judgment was not based on inaction in the case of other similar products.
Appearing for Parle, their counsel Virag Tulzapurkar contended that lactic acid is used worldwide in such products and similar products are freely imported into India.
The FDA had seized 48 batches of the confectionery during raids. Additional government pleader Sandeep Shinde told the court that of these, only nine contained colour in excess. The court has now directed that the department release the 39 batches which contain the permissible level of colour.
A spokesperson for Parle said, “All our products go through stringent quality norms — be it the ingredients, processes, packaging material, etc. We have always placed our consumers first, and will continue to follow this philosophy in future as well.”

Dinamalar