Guwahati: Two days after banning a sauce and packaged drinking water brands, the state government on Saturday issued a ban on another bottled water product as it contained chromium beyond the permissible limits.
The state health department, upon receiving reports from food analysts and from the director of the Referral Food Laboratory to the state government, banned the Spring Drop drinking water brand for 30 days with immediate effect. Manufactured by M/S Golden Beverages based in Morigaon district, the company was being monitored by the government for a while. Officials from food safety and state health departments refused to divulge any information pertaining to the ban.
As per the Bureau of Indian Standards, the permissible limit of chromium in drinking water is 0.05 mg/litre. Excess consumption of chromium can lead to skin infections and can even be carcinogenic. "We are not supposed to tell anything. There is strict instruction," said a health department official.
'Jeevan Initiative', a city-based voluntary organization, conducted an investigation into packaged drinking water last year and cited that half of such brands in the market contained toxic impurities. Over 10 laboratory tests were conducted on the brands.
Out of the 10 brands that were collected from railway stations and other sources, five were found to be totally unsafe for consumption. Silver Drop contained the most number of impurities. "A test called total viable colony count was conducted on the brands. Silver Drop was the most toxic brand. We wanted the government to take some action then only but to no avail," said Suresh Guduka of Jeevan Initiative.
The samples were sent to the state public health laboratory for microbiological and chemical testing under Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011.
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