Kerala Food Safety authorities are inspecting coconut oil arriving from Tamil Nadu markets following the reports of adulteration with palm kernel oil.
Thalath Mahamood, former President, Cochin Oil Merchants Association (COMA) told Business Line that the officials have started collecting coconut oil samples for a random inspection from traders in Ernakulam market as large quantities of coconut oil mixed with palm kernel oil arriving in various parts of the state and it is affecting the market badly.
Around 30-40 tankers with 10 tonne capacity each are coming to the state from Tamil Nadu on a daily basis and traders are raising complaints on the inferior quality of oil.
To arrest this trend, he suggested setting up of laboratories by the State Government at check posts to carry out on the spot test of the product coming from across the border. The Government should also take steps to equip various other laboratories in the state to check the oil.
When contacted, a senior official in the Food Safety Authority said that they have constituted separate teams in Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram based on a complaint from Kerafed on adulteration of coconut oil.
The team has collected samples from traders which will be sending for further inspection. Since the labs in Kerala are not equipped to fully test the level of adulteration, the samples will be send to NABL accredited labs.
Meanwhile, the coconut oil market in Kerala and Tamil Nadu is witnessing a weak trend with the commencement of copra season. Prices in Kerala declined to Rs 63 per kg (Rs 65) while the rates quoted in Tamil Nadu are at Rs 60 against Rs 63 quoted last week.
Simultaneously copra prices also dropped to Rs 4,500 per quintal in Kerala (Rs 4,700) and Rs 4,350 in Tamil Nadu (Rs 4,600).
Prakash B.Rao, Vice President, COMA said the market is witnessing a selling tend and this coupled with lack of industrial demand made an impact.