Coimbatore: With the Maggi noodles facing a ban, social activists in Coimbatore are now pressing for a ban on the ready-to-eat chappatis and parattas which were found to be unsafe by the Tamil Nadu food safety and drug administration department.
The Social Awareness Movement petitioned district collector Archana Patnaik on Monday, asking her to take the ready-to-eat chappatis off the shelves of the stores in the city. According to J. D. Socrates, founder president of Social Awareness Movement, the samples of the instant chapatis of different brands were tested by the food safety department.
The tests showed that they were unsafe. However, no action had been taken yet to ban the various brands of ready-to-eat chappattis.
The sampled instant food was found to contain high levels of benzoic acid, a preservative found in processed foods like cheese, varying sauces as well as meats.
If it is inhaled, it can cause damage to the nervous system. Eaten in food, it is toxic. It has been linked to asthma problems and increased levels of hyperactivity in children. Another sample test on a nutrition food supplement called Braingates carried a label Badam with vanilla flavor but the picture showed strawberry fruit, As per regulation 2.2.1 (3) prepackaged food shall not be described or presented on the label that is false, misleading or deceptive or is likely to create an erroneous impression regarding the product in any respect. Hence the sample was found to be misbranded, he alleged.
The copies of the sample reports were submitted to the commissioner of Tamil Nadu food safety and drug administration department, food safety wing, Chennai by the food analyst R. Thenmozhi from Coimbatore but nothing happened.
“Even after the results were known to the food safety department, advertisement of these products are being done,” he said. Similarly, the herbal health drinks like ginger and gooseberry syrup and popular packed snacks for kids have failed to pass the sample test. If these products are not banned from the market, we are exposing our children to lifelong disease,” said Socrates.
