Chennai: Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI) has sent a legal notice to a leading Malayalam daily for publishing an article claiming that an analysis had confirmed the presence of high levels of pesticide residue in vegetable samples taken from Tamil Nadu.
CCFI alleges that the analysis by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had not even taken place and there is no actually data of pesticide contamination. The article was a follow-up story about the alleged discovery of high pesticide content in vegetables grown in Tamil Nadu and sold in Kerala.
According to CCFI, neither had FSSAI nor Kerala Agricultural University responded to the legal notice with any data. “The article twists facts and consciously presents a fictitious picture on the entire issue. Contrary to what was reported by the publication, there has been no inquiry by FSSAI, Delhi,” said Rajju Shroff, chairman, CCFI. “We expect the publication to present all aspects of the story without any bias or prejudice. We are hopeful that the editorial team would realise the mistake and publish corrections,” said S. Ganesan, policy& public advisor to CCFI.
