Food safey department seizes adulterated oil, empty sachets from unit in Dindigul

DINDIGUL: Days after acting against a company manufacturing adulterated oil in Madurai, officials from the food safety department unearthed a similar unit in Nandhavanampatti in Dindigul district. Apart from adulterated oil, a large quantity of empty pouches were also seized.

The unit was unearthed by a team of officials led by designated officer for food safety, Dr K Natarajan. The search was conducted on Tuesday evening based on a complaint received through WhatsApp. 

Natarajan said that the unit, which has been functioning for several months, was manufacturing adulterated groundnut oil. They found only 14 boxes of adulterated oil worth Rs 10,500 at the time of inspection. However, they found 21,000 empty pouches worth Rs 1.36 lakh. Subsequently, the unit was sealed the same day.

“Both edible and non-edible oils were found to have packed in the brand name of Sakthi. While groundnut pictures were printed on the pouch, it contained palmolein oil, mixed with flavour. A sample has been lifted and sent for lab testing. An improvement notice has also been served,” said Natarajan.

Officials said that the adulterated oil was sent for sales not only in Dindigul but also to other neighbouring districts. They have asked the shopkeepers and distributors not to sell the oil to the public.

Spurious tea powder stored in a godown located in R S Salai in Dindigul was also seized by the officials on Wednesday morning, during a search based on a tip-off.

In total, 50kg of tea powder was seized. Name of the brand mentioned in the box was Amoha. It was also mentioned that the tea powder was manufactured in Singanallur in Coimbatore. The seized powder was worth Rs 20,000.