The Hindu Business Line : Indian sugar meets global standards, Pak court told

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Indian sugar meets global standards, Pak court told

Quality control report doesn’t substantiate allegations: ISMA

Bitter row
Sulphur presence in Indian sugar low at 15-30 mg per kg.
Vested interests seen behind campaign against Indian sugar.

M.R. Subramani

Chennai, Sept. 25 The Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) has sent a two-page letter to the Lahore civil court, which has stayed import of Indian sugar into Pakistan, saying the sweetener from here is safe as per global food standards.

“We have sent the letter to the court pointing out that the sulphur level in our sugar is much below the standards set as per JECFA,” said Mr S.L. Jain, ISMA Secretary-General. JECFA or Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives is an international scientific expert committee administered by FAO and it has formulated standards for safety limits of chemicals in foods. According to JECFA limits, up to 70 mg/kg of sulphur di-oxide is permitted in sugar, whereas the presence of it in Indian sugar was between 15 and 30 mg/kg.

Technical ability

“We have improved our technical ability to reduce the presence of sulphur substantially and the fact is that the Pakistan Standard Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) report does not substantiate the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association’s allegation that our sugar is unfit for human consumption,” Mr Jain said.

He was responding to query from Business Line on reports in the Pakistani press that the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) counsel had pointed out to the PSQCA “finding” that sulphur presence in Indian sugar was above permitted levels.

On Monday, the PSMA counsel also urged the Lahore court to declare Indian sugar as “B class” and not refined one.

“Our sugar is as per ICUMSA standards and there is no way Pakistan can say it is harmful,” an industry official said. ICUMSA is the International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis. The lower the ICUMSA value, the whiter will be the sugar.

The average intake of sugar by humans in a day is less than 20 grams and as such, a person weighing 65 kg hardly consumes 0.7 mg of sulphur through sugar. In contrast, sulphur consumed through an average 200 gram of meat or fish a day is considered to be higher.

Hearing deferred

The Lahore court is hearing a petition from the Sawera Group which is seeking release of over 2,200 tonnes of sugar detained by the Pakistan Customs officials at the border.

“What is happening there is that PSMA is not interested in letting the court hear the matter. A stay on Indian sugar import should have been heard on September 5 but the association has been successful in get the hearings deferred,” the official said.

“If our sugar is not fit for consumption how did the Pakistan Government invite us to bid for their purchase tenders last year? We sold four lakh tonnes to them. We took part in the tenders on their invitation and we got a special quota for shipment,” said Mr Jain.

According to industry sources, Pakistan, last year, found itself “squeezed” by the a Dubai sugar refinery on the prices and it had to turn to India to control rising prices.

Indian sugar industry is confident that the PSMA’s contention would not stand legal scrutiny and “vested interests” are the only reason for the current imbroglio.