Do not adulterate sago, says District Collector

District Collector V. Dakshinamoorthy has warned of stringent action against those adulterating sago.

Under the Food Safety and Standards Act a fine between Rs. 5 lakh and Rs. 10 lakh can be imposed on adulterers, he said while participating in a meeting organised for tapioca farmers and owners of sago units here on Wednesday. Officials from various government department too attended the meeting.

There were 127 units that manufactured sago from tapioca, of which 10 were defunct.

Following allegations by farmers during a grievances redress meeting that some of the units were adulterating sago using low quality materials, a team of officials inspected 13 factories in the district, he said.

Mr. Dakshinamoorthy added that a test of samples collected from these units revealed that nine units have adulterated sago.

Action has been taken against these units under the Food Safety and Standards Act.

He asked owners of sago units to give reasonable prices for the tapioca procured from farmers and maintain quality of sago.

District Revenue Officer V.R. Subbulakshmi, managing director of SAGO Serve (Salem), too participated.

500 students fall ill after eating stale food

HYDERABAD: Nearly 500 students of Sumathi Reddy Junior College, Boduppal, fell ill on Wednesday night reportedly after consuming stale food served by the college authorities for lunch. A case has been registered against the college management on the basis of a complaint lodged by the students.

On Wednesday afternoon, nearly 1,000 students were served lunch at the hostel. However, by night the students started vomiting and showing symptoms of food poisoning, Medipally police said. As many as 478 students were shifted to local private hospitals. "The condition of 50 to 60 students is serious and they are undergoing treatment," Medipally inspector Ravi Kiran Reddy said.

According to him, a case was registered against the college management under sections 270 (Malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), 336 (Act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code and section 47 of the Food Adultration Act.

Meanwhile, panic-stricken parents, who came to know about the incident through the media, rushed to the hospitals and blamed the college management for not responding to their calls. Several students unions also staged dharnas on the college premises. Incidentally, the students are also slated to sit for their annual exam in less than a week.

The police are now trying to determine which food item had caused the illness. "As of now, we do not know which food item was stale. It is being investigated," police said.