6 warehouses sealed in Kerala after adulteration plaints

Mumbai. Six commodity warehouses in Kerala have been sealed over the complaint of adulteration in black pepper stock and authorities of Food Safety there are now awaiting laboratory reports. The warehouses, accredited by the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), were sealed on Friday. "We have sealed six warehouses in Ernakulam and Alappuzha district in Kerala over the complaint of adulteration in pepper stock, received last week. We have collected the samples of the said commodity and send the same to laboratory for inspection," Commissioner Food Safety-Kerala, Biju Prabhakar told PTI here. "We need to check and proper valuation needs to be done of this commodity. We are waiting for the laboratory reports, Prabhakar said. NCDEX chief, Corporate Services, M K Ananda Kumar said, "We were accepting black pepper deposits as per our standard specifications only. The mineral oil issue has been raised for the first time. We are looking into the complaint lodged by buyers for mineral oil content. We are in touch with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for further course of action." The seized stock of pepper allegedly contains mineral oil which is an adulterant and not allowed to be used in any human consumption commodity, sources familiar with the development said, adding that it must have been used to suppress fungus/ moulds and give more weight and dark black colour to pepper. According to Food Safety and Security Act of India, under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, there is no permission on use of any mineral oil in pepper. Sources said pepper stocks of 5,000/7000 tonnes costing around Rs 250-300 crore have been seized. Traders fear no delivery of pepper on the NCDEX platform, as the exchange does not have any in any other warehouse.