For taking action against spice brand

Food Safety chief faced threat: Chief Secretary
Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson on Saturday said that there was tremendous pressure on Food Safety Commissioner T.V. Anupama after she had taken action against a certain spices brand on food adulteration charges. “She received direct threat after she took the bold step of testing and later banning some products of the brand. Her action provoked high-level intervention and even I came under pressure,” he said at the annual convention of the Kerala Management Association in response to a query from the audience as to why the government was not taking adequate steps to curb dangerous levels of pesticide residue in vegetables and provisions. Ms. Anupama told The Hindu that she had received eight threatening letters, some from a national forum in which most leading pesticide manufactures are members. “While some letters originated from anonymous sources, some were from this association. It wasn’t a big trouble, but there sure were attempts to put me under pressure… They had also filed a case in the High Court in which I was made to respond in my personal capacity. The case is still on,” she said.