Expedite check on edible oil brands, HC to food safety dept

Madurai: Directing the food safety and drug administration to expedite its task of checking edible oil brands on various parameters, the Madurai bench of the Madras high court on Monday further directed it to enforce the department's WhatsApp number (9444042322) created for receiving complaints from consumers on adulteration, poor quality or labelling defects of the oil scrupulously. 

The division bench of justices K K Sasidharan and G R Swaminathan gave this direction while disposing of a petition filed by one K Ravichandran that sought to constitute committee to examine edible oil packets available in market to ascertain whether it is fit for consumption. 

During hearing, the special government pleader (SGP) M Govidan told the court the state government's Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration, created on December 22, 2011, is acting effectively for the enforcement of Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006. 

Since the inception of the department, 1,402 edible oil samples were analysed, of which 20 were found unsafe and 507 were found contravene to the FSSA. Eighteen cases were filed before the judicial magistrate courts which gave conviction in eight cases and imposed Rs 1.68 lakh penalty. A total of 384 cases were put forth before the adjudication officer, of which 238 were convicted and Rs 49.89 lakh was imposed as penalties, the SGP said. 

Besides, based on complaints given by public, the department made inspections. Now, the food safety and drug administration commissioner P Amudha has constituted a state-level committee to monitor the quality of edible oil based on FSSA. 

The committee, having deputy director of the department as its head and designated officers of Salem, Erode, Namakkal, Virudhunagar, Madurai and Tuticorin as its members will look into adulteration in edible oil, adherence to FSSA standards and labelling/ mislabelling. 

The committee will meet immediately to check/ scrutinise the various brands of edible oil available in the market for safety, standards and labelling as per FSSA and rules, the SGP said. 

He also said instructions will be given to the district offices to lift the samples of all major oil brands and send a report to the state committee on the test results and labelling discrepancies.