DINAMALAR NEWS

DINAKARAN NEWS

Appam production halted at Sabarimala

TDB fails to comply with High Court order

Production of ‘appam’ at Sabarimala has been disrupted with the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) failing to comply with the directive of the Kerala High Court to ensure the quality of the prasadom (offering).

In its order dated November, 23, 2015, the Division Bench of the High Court, comprising Justice Thottathil B.Radhakrishnan and Anu Sivaraman, had categorically stated that the articles brought by pilgrims in the ‘irumudikkettu’ (sacred bundle) should not be reused or recycled.

The court order said: “The contents of the irumudi are always held to be holy. The need to preserve their sanctity cannot be permitted to be eroded by availability of the materials which have once been used for the purpose of the pilgrimage as they relate to articles which are to be filled in the Irumudi and never intended to be reused or recycled.’’

The TDB has been reusing the rice brought by pilgrims in the Irumudikkettu for making Appam for the past many years and this practice continued even after the Court order in 2015.

Violation of the court order came to the notice of the Duty Magistrate and the Food Safety officials during an inspection of the appam plant at the Sabarimala Sannidhanam on Sunday. They have taken up the matter with the Special Commissioner appointed by the High Court M. Manoj, and directed the Sabarimala Executive Officer to strictly comply with the Court order of 2015 and stop using the rice brought in the Irumudis for appam production with immediate effect.

The court order also directed the Executive Magistrate attached to the office of the Special Commissioner, Sabarimala, to ensure strict compliance with its directive.

The appam stock as on Sunday afternoon was 68,000 against its average daily requirement of 1 lakh, board sources said.

Newspapers as food packing material banned

Use of newspapers for wrapping, packing and serving food is a common practice in India. However, this is a food safety hazard. Wrapping food in newspapers is an unhealthy practice and the consumption of such food is injurious to health, even if the food has been cooked hygienically.

Indians are being slowly poisoned due to newspaper being widely used as food packaging material by small hotels, vendors and also in homes in lieu of absorbent paper.

Foods contaminated by newspaper ink raise serious health concerns since the ink contains multiple bioactive materials with known negative health effects. Printing inks may also contain harmful colours, pigments, binders, additives and preservatives. Besides chemical contaminants, presence of pathogenic microorganisms in used newspapers, also pose potential risks to human health.

Newspapers and even paper/cardboard boxes made of recycled paper may be contaminated with metallic contaminants, mineral oils and harmful chemicals such as phthalates which can cause digestive problems and also lead to severe toxicity. Older people, teenagers, children and people with compromised vital organs and immune systems are at a greater risk of acquiring cancer-related health complications, if they are exposed to food packed in such material.

In view of the above, the Directorate of Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) Goa , consequent to the communication received from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, New Delhi, hereby advised all the food business operators, including street food vendors, kiosks/fast food outlets, etc., as well as consumers and the general public, that newspapers should not be used to wrap, cover and serve food, or to absorb excess oil from fried food, and should refrain/discourage the use of newspapers, in this regard, for food items.