Adulterated mustard oil found in large number of pickle samples

NEW DELHI, August 23: Adulterated mustard oil, responsible for the dropsy epidemic which has already claimed one victim, has found its wa...

NEW DELHI, August 23: Adulterated mustard oil, responsible for the dropsy epidemic which has already claimed one victim, has found its way into locally-made pickle. At least 30 per cent of the fresh pickle picked up in a random survey were found to contain adulterated mustard oil.

A consumer group picked up samples of pickle at random after large number of complaints were received from Vikaspuri, Uttam Nagar, R.K.Puram and Greater Kailash last week. However, the Delhi Government’s department of Prevention of Adulterated Food (PFA) is yet to conduct an official check on pickle factories, which often buy mustard oil in bulk from the same outlets as most residents.

“We have got no time to check pickle or any other food items. We are still busy determining the causes and nature of adulteration in mustard oil — which is the main issue. We collected 120 samples from all over the city of which 70 per cent have been analysed and 37 per cent were found to be adulterated. But there is no need to panic as the situation is under control,” said Ashok Baxi, director PFA.

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But several consumer bodies are demanding an immediate raid on local pickle factories to determine the amount of adulterated mustard that have already been used in their products. This, they feel, is the only way to warn unsuspecting Delhiites of the danger.

Said Abha Mathur, general secretary of the Housewives Association, a wing of the Consumer Confederation of India, “When I opened the bottle of the mango pickle which I bought from the Vikaspuri market a couple was weeks back, it was stinking. Thankfully, I was aware that adulterated mustard oil has flooded the markets. I promptly gave it for testing and it proved to be adulterated.”

Former member of parliament Santok Singh’s family had a similar experience. Only they tried preparing the mango pickle at home. “The mango achhar was kept aside for a few days after the mustard oil was poured in. But when we opened it the next time a foul smell was emanating from the bottle,” he said.

In fact, at a consumer awareness seminar two months ago the issue of mustard oil adulteration was discussed at length and samples of adulterated oil picked up from various markets of the city were shown to participants. This was, however, ignored as another seminar stunt.

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The Delhi Government only acted on it and picked up the mustard oil samples from the consumer activists only after the first cases of dropsy were reported. The CFI members also claim that for six months or so there have been no checks or raids in any of the shops selling mustard oil, supposed to be a weekly affair.

The PFA director denied the allegation saying, “We began the checks almost immediately after we got the news of dropsy. The major manufacturers are based outside Delhi so it is difficult to keep a tab on them. It is duty of the police to check what is coming into the city. But the pickle factories are on our agenda.”

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