About 40% of food items adulterated

Chennai: About 40 per cent of food items tested by government labs in the state in 2013-14 were either adulterated or “misbranded”, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) statistics said. Interestingly, the rate of adulteration in Tamil Nadu is two times higher than that of the national average of 19 per cent, according to information availed from FSSAI through RTI by this newspaper.

Food samples tested range from commonly used items such as edible oil, masala powder, dals, salt, sugar and grains to ready-to-eat packed foods available in grocery shops as well as big departmental stores. As per FSSAI guidelines, food samples were collected from the markets and tested to find whether it met the set standards or not.

The rate of adulteration found in food samples tested in the state has gone up by four times from 8.43 per cent in 2011-12 to 39.66 per cent in 2013-14. A senior official of the food safety administration department attributed the high rate of adulteration or misbranded food items found in the state to lifting of more suspected samples from the market rather than taking random ones.

“We mostly take food samples based on complaints from people, officials or media reports. That is why the rate of adulteration in the food samples tested in our labs is high,” the official explained. According to sources in the FSA department, daily used items are normally adulterated. In edible oils, used cooked oil is mixed with fresh oil. Pepper powder packets sold in the markets are mostly adulterated with cornstarch with only five per cent pepper it, said sources.

Consumer activist and founder trustee of the Consumer Association of India R. Desikan said that he was not surprised by the large adulteration found in food samples tested in the state. He said that traders, hoteliers and manufacturers in the state are making every effort to prevent enforcement of the FSSAI Act by filing numerous cases against it in various courts. There are about 34 cases filed in various courts including the Madras high court against implementation of the Food Safety Act by traders and others.

Drive against adulterated food products before festive season

JAIPUR: Adulterated food items like sweets or other milk products spoil the flavour of the festivals. Therefore, the health department will be launching a drive in state to check food adulteration ahead of the festive season.

Health director and state's food commissioner Dr BR Meena said, "We have prepared plans to launch drive against food adulteration."

There are always chances of food adulteration when the demand for certain items goes up and supply is limited, he said.

A health department official said, samples of ghee, oil, mawa, sweets and paneer will be collected and sent to laboratories for quality test.

Also, the officials would keep a tab on supply of milk as its demand increases during Diwali, thus, increasing chances of adulteration. Adulterated or sub-standard food items can cause stomach-related problems, claim health experts.

However, the health department officials claimed that the laws are stricter now for persons involved in adulteration. According to the newly implemented Food Safety and Security Act (2006), unsafe food means an article whose nature, substance or quality is so affected as to render it injurious to health. The person who himself or by any other person on his behalf, manufactures for sale or stores or sells such goods will be liable to penalty of Rs1 lakh to Rs10 lakh and imprisonment ranging from six months to life imprisonment depending upon the injury it causes to the patient.

Tobacco sachets worth Rs 4 lakh siezed, two arrested

NASHIK: The Bhadrakali police on Saturday confiscated sachets of flavoured tobacco worth Rs 3.75 lakh and arrested two persons in this connection. The duo was, however, granted bail on Sunday.

The police had received a tip-off that a multi utility vehicle (MUV), loaded with the banned product, was about to enter the city.

They laid a trap on the Kannamwar bridge on the Mumbai-Agra road around 11 am and intercepted the vehicle in front of Kanchan Tata Motors and confiscated the gutkha sachets.

The police arrested Dileep Gulab Mali, a resident of Ashoka Marg, Hari Sankul and Sudam Ramesh Gaikwad,of Mhasobawadi under different sections of the IPC and the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006. The duo was produced before a city court which granted them bail.

The police said the two accused had brought the tobacco sachets from Nipani, Karnataka to be distributed in the grey market in Nashik city. The police also confiscated the MUV worth Rs 5 lakh.