1st national survey of edible oils launched
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 28
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has launched a nationwide crackdown against the sale of adulterated edible oils to determine the quality of the products in the market.
In a first, the FSSAI has initiated a pan-India survey of branded and unbranded oil samples and 4,500 samples have been collected between August 25 and 27 across states and UTs covering 16 varieties, including mustard, coconut, palm, olive and blended oils.
Hilly and remote terrains of Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, Daman and Diu as well as Andaman have been included in the survey to ensure wider distribution of the sample size.
The samples have been drawn from hypermarkets and supermarkets, retail and grocery stores and national and local brands have been covered. “The survey has been conducted by the State Food Safety officials. At least 50 samples were collected from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata.
Six to eight samples each have been taken from non-metro cities,” FSSAI said, adding that a WhatsApp group has been created for the ease of officials involved. Sources said a strategy for testing the samples through State Food Testing Laboratories or FSSAI-notified labs to analyse various parameters has been worked out.
Elements for analysis would include fatty acid composition, adulteration of oils with harmful or extraneous substances and chemicals developed. The test results are expected in a month, the regulator said.
