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Karnataka FSSAI notes at least 10 types of snacks sourced from Kerala and sold in Karnataka to be unsafe
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Thursday, 14 November, 2024, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Nandita Vijayasimha, Bengaluru
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Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in Karnataka has observed that at least 10 types of snacks sourced from Kerala and sold in Karnataka are declared unsafe. In an inspection drive conducted by the team FSSAI in the state where tests on 140 samples of snacks which come into the border areas of Karnataka from Kerala have revealed that 31 of them were unsafe, with even cancer-causing agents detected in some snacks. The snacks included chakkali, nippattu, bread, jam, khara and chips.
The food regulatory authority in Karnataka has issued a warning and written to Kerala’s Food Safety department about the manufacture of unsafe snacks in that state. The snacks were supplied to districts including Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Kodagu, Madikeri, Dakshina Kannada, and Mangaluru, which are on high alert.
The tests found excessive use of artificial colour content and other harmful substances in the snacks, posing health risks, especially to children. The food regulatory authority is conducting many operations related to the adulteration and safety of food products. Over the last few days, they tested the food products coming into the border of the state from Kerala.
Even the hotels, shops and manufacturing units located on the Kerala border in Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada, and Mangaluru were raided by the Karnataka FSSAI and sent the food products to the lab for testing. Thirty-one of the 140 samples collected turned out to be unsafe with carcinogens found in some of them.
The critical issue is that the carcinogens were found in popular crunchy snacks like chakkali, nippattu, bread, jamun, khara, mixture and chips which are mostly consumed by children. It was found that artificial colours are used in the preparation of the food products which may cause cancer.
“We conducted raids in several districts which are close to Kerala, based on complaints. We took it as a serious case. We have collected 90 samples, including chakkali, nippattu, bread, jam, halwa, khara, chips and several sweets. Of them, 31 snacks which come from Kerala were found unsafe. The raids were conducted after reports were published in newspapers and on the directive of the minister”, said Srinivas K, Commissioner of Food Safety for Karnataka.
"We found colouring agents in the samples, including carmoisine, tartrazine, bonsai 4, e-coli and coliform, and sunset yellow. Snacks including rice snacks, Mysuru pak, kiwi fruits, strawberry, jalebi, daal mixture, banana snacks and papad are popular in the coastal districts. We also noticed expired date on the label during the inspection. We took a legal sample and filed a case against them at JMF court”, the Commissioner added.
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