Seminar on safe water and food

Four varieties of vegetables found to be contaminated

The Laboratory and Technical Division (LTD) attached to the Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI) here is organising a seminar on safe water and food at the CEPCI conference hall on February 28.

The seminar will be inaugurated by A.K. Mini, assistant food safety commissioner, Kollam.

Principal scientist of the LTD V.P. Potty said here on Wednesday that the seminar was aimed at promoting awareness of the need to avoid using water and food that were harmful for human health. He said that such food and water was the source of many diseases such as cancer.

Dr. Potty said that as per tests carried out by the LTD, four varieties of vegetables sold in Kollam had been found to be highly contaminated with organophosphorus pesticides. They are green chillies, curry leaves, cabbages, and bitter gourds. The chemical erythrocin was being rampantly used to give artificial colour and taste to watermelons and coal tar dyes were also used to give vegetables an artificial fresh look, he said.

But all such food was extremely harmful and people had to be aware of the safety levels of the food they consumed. He said that the seminar was being conducted in public interest.

The LTD, established in 1997 with Government of India funding, had the facility to conduct microbiological tests to identify such chemicals in food and water, he said.

CEPCI chairman Shahal Hassan Musaliar said that the LTD was a major laboratory in the country for food analysis. It was accredited to the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL).

He said that as per the Food Safety Act, all food stuff, agricultural products meant for human consumption, and drinking water had to be tested and certified by an NABL-accredited laboratory before being sold in the market.