DINAMALAR NEWS

Bake to offer colour-free items as part of Good Bye To Colour campaign

As a part of its Good Bye to Colour campaign, Bakers Association Kerala (Bake) plans to remove colours from all the bakery items produced in the state. As an experimental initiative, 210 bakery producers in the Nattika assembly constituency of Thrissur district have been producing non-coloured bakery items of late. 

Colourful bakery products, a specialty of Kerala, have huge markets in both its rural and urban areas. Bakers in the state feared that a complete removal of colours from bakery products could reduce their demand and adversely affect profits. 

With the campaign (which was launched in 2007), Bake aims to create public awareness about the consumption of colourless bakery products. It initiated various awareness programmes and cleanliness drives to encourage healthy bakery products. If it succeeds in Nattika, it would spread to all parts of Kerala. 

P M Sankaran, state president, Bake, said, “We lost many of our homemade traditional products due to the nuclear family system and the introduction of artificial products. Bake is deeply involved in bringing those traditional products back.” 

“Every colour used by the bakers in the state is permitted by the government and causes no harm. Barring banana chips and meat, colours are allowed in all food products," he added. 

"But using colour above a certain level is harmful for consumption. Doctors say that colours contain adulterants,which may cause diseases,” Sankaran stated.

Bakers to say ‘Goodbye to colours’

The Bakers’ Association Kerala (Bake) has taken a healthy step. ‘Goodbye to colours,’ a programme launched by Bake in 2007, is being pursued with renewed vigour now thanks to an improved awareness among the public on the harmful effects of artificial colours. Perhaps, the fresh initiative is born out of a necessity

Colours are being used by almost all food manufacturing companies. Limits on the use of colours are being monitored by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. The violation is liable for punishment, which could include jail term.

“Bakeries in Nattika in Thrissur have begun displaying ‘jalebis’ and ‘laddus’ sans colour, as part of the initiative. The move is being followed by bakers in Kottayam. The project is to be spread across Kerala”, says P.M. Sankaran, president of Bake.

Jalebis made of black gram flour and sugar will have a whitish tinge unless coloring matter is added. Laddus made of Bengal gram flour and sugar too will have a faint white colour. It may take time for the consumer psyche to accept the product as such, but bakers are opting for a trouble-free course that would ultimately benefit buyers. The mission should be seen as a move to promote a healthy habit, he says

Standards for hygien

Earlier, Bake had launched an initiative to ensure hygienic practices in bormas (kitchens) of bakeries. Accordingly, standards for hygiene to be adopted in kitchens were stipulated by the organisation. Tips for improving cleanliness were given to the employees as well as the owners, based on individual requirement, as noted by a committee of experts. The organisation proposes to give a Bake-fit certificate to the bakeries which ensure standards on subsequent examinations by a team of food services authorities and Bake representatives.

Traditional savourie

A movement to produce transfat-free products has been launched by the organisation. It is also focussing on reviving the production of traditional items such as ‘kozhukatta’, ‘sukhian’ and ‘ada’, in a bid to present age-old savouries and snacks to the new generation