Thiruvananthapuram​: The squads under the Kerala Commissionerate of Food Safety (KCFS) continue its effort to pull out banned coconut oil brands off the shelf across the state. The Commissionerate had banned sale, distribution, and storage of around 70 coconut oil brands last month for adulteration and other reasons.
A top official of the Commissionerate said that a special drive was held following the prohibition order and huge quantity of banned oil was seized from the market. "We are still continuing our efforts and our food safety officers at every district are carrying out regular checks at shops to ensure the banned products are not being sold," said the official.
The official said that the squad seized and took a case against several traders who were found selling banned coconut oil brands.
Meanwhile, around six manufacturers of the banned coconut oil brands have come forward for appeal.
"The quality of these brands was substandard and bringing awareness among consumers is the only way. We have also published the list of coconut oil brands on our official website. The inspection by our food safety officers will continue in the coming days," said the official.
However, lack of adequate staff continues to be a major challenge for the commissionerate. "Currently there are around 160 food safety officers in the state but many of the posts are lying vacant," the official added.
The list of banned coconut oil brands are published in the website --http://www.foodsafety.kerala.gov.in/
