Release occurs after a Kolkata-based food testing laboratory okayed 1,500 tonnes of total stock
After a gap of three years, 600 tonnes of black pepper stock, allegedly contained mineral oil, were released in the open market. This is for the first time a major chunk of the 6,400 tonnes of the stock which was sealed in December, 2012, after a complaint of mineral oil coating, is being released.
Sources close to the issue said Business Standard that the releasing was made possible after a Kolkata-based food testing laboratory has okayed 1,500 tonnes of the total stock. 1,000 more tones will be released to the local market, immediately after the civic body elections in Kerala.
Top exporters of the commodity told Business Standard that the part of the stock tested okay by the laboratory will be sold in the Indian market.
They said that the stock is not fit for exports as it has a muddy odour and has the presence of insects. An exporter said that this is because of such a long period of keeping in the warehouses and can be removed through fumigation, warming in day light and using other cleaning process.
Leading dealers from Tamilnadu and Karnataka had bought the stock and this is being sold in retail markets in Mumbai and Delhi at a price tag of Rs 640-660/Kg.
In August, 2014 Kerala High Court directed the Food Safety Commissioner to allow NCDEX to clean the stock of pepper and to sent it to a laboratory notified by FSSAI.
The petitioner, Suresh Nair, vice president, NCDEX submitted that even if the allegation was true, it could be removed by a process of steaming. Mumbai based Kalimirchi Vyapari Association also moved Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking urgent justice as the traders' money of over Rs 300 crore was stuck in the issue.
The laboratory report said that traces of mineral oil was not detected in the 20 samples tested.
Mineral oil used in adulterated black pepper is made of burnt diesel, paraffin oil, white petroleum and other un-digestible and insoluble petroleum products. Black pepper coated with mineral oil is considered carcinogenic and even otherwise harmful for human consumption.
Over a complaint six warehouses in Alappuzha and Kochi, accredited by the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), were sealed by the Food Safety Authority of Kerala in December, 2012.
This was according to a direction from the Food Safety Standard Authority of India (FSSA). It also directed that 93 lots should be destroyed immediately. When the samples were tested in Kerala 60-65 per cent of the lots were found to contain traces of mineral oil.
After a gap of three years, 600 tonnes of black pepper stock, allegedly contained mineral oil, were released in the open market. This is for the first time a major chunk of the 6,400 tonnes of the stock which was sealed in December, 2012, after a complaint of mineral oil coating, is being released.
Sources close to the issue said Business Standard that the releasing was made possible after a Kolkata-based food testing laboratory has okayed 1,500 tonnes of the total stock. 1,000 more tones will be released to the local market, immediately after the civic body elections in Kerala.
Top exporters of the commodity told Business Standard that the part of the stock tested okay by the laboratory will be sold in the Indian market.
They said that the stock is not fit for exports as it has a muddy odour and has the presence of insects. An exporter said that this is because of such a long period of keeping in the warehouses and can be removed through fumigation, warming in day light and using other cleaning process.
Leading dealers from Tamilnadu and Karnataka had bought the stock and this is being sold in retail markets in Mumbai and Delhi at a price tag of Rs 640-660/Kg.
In August, 2014 Kerala High Court directed the Food Safety Commissioner to allow NCDEX to clean the stock of pepper and to sent it to a laboratory notified by FSSAI.
The petitioner, Suresh Nair, vice president, NCDEX submitted that even if the allegation was true, it could be removed by a process of steaming. Mumbai based Kalimirchi Vyapari Association also moved Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking urgent justice as the traders' money of over Rs 300 crore was stuck in the issue.
The laboratory report said that traces of mineral oil was not detected in the 20 samples tested.
Mineral oil used in adulterated black pepper is made of burnt diesel, paraffin oil, white petroleum and other un-digestible and insoluble petroleum products. Black pepper coated with mineral oil is considered carcinogenic and even otherwise harmful for human consumption.
Over a complaint six warehouses in Alappuzha and Kochi, accredited by the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), were sealed by the Food Safety Authority of Kerala in December, 2012.
This was according to a direction from the Food Safety Standard Authority of India (FSSA). It also directed that 93 lots should be destroyed immediately. When the samples were tested in Kerala 60-65 per cent of the lots were found to contain traces of mineral oil.
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