Insta
Only Pure Mustard Oil From 1 October As Govt Bans Mixing Of Other Edible Oils In It; Consumers And Farmers To Benefit
IANS
Sep 29, 2020, 09:16 AM | Updated 09:16 AM IST
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
Consumers will now get only pure mustard oil as the Central government has banned the mixing of any other edible oil with mustard oil. The ban imposed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will come into force from 1 October 2020.
Experts say the decision by the government will benefit consumers as well as mustard growing farmers.
Rice bran oil, palm oil or any other cheap edible oil is used for adulteration. Experts point out that adulteration occurs in two ways -- first is 'blending' in which a fixed proportion is adulterated and the other is 'Adulteration' in which no specific ratio is fixed for mixing.
Adulteration in edible oil is already banned while blending was allowed in a fixed proportion but now FSSAI has banned this as well.
Dr PK Rai, Director, Mustard Research Directorate in Bharatpur, Rajasthan under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), said that this decision is in the interest of consumers as well as farmers.
By this decision, consumers will get only pure mustard oil while by increasing the consumption of mustard farmers will get a fair price for their produce which will encourage them to go in for mustard farming, he added.
Rai said that the decision before the onset of the mustard sowing season is seen as very encouraging for the farmers and this will undoubtedly increase the acreage of mustard in the upcoming rabi sowing season. He informed that the sowing of mustard will start from 15 October.
However, the edible oil industry said the ban on adulteration should be strictly enforced but blending should be allowed as the manufacturer provides information about the blending ingredients on the packet.
Dr BV Mehta, Executive Director of edible oil industry organization, Solvent Extractors Association of India, said the adulteration of mustard oil needs to be banned while blending should not be stopped. He said the samples taken by FSSAI were found to be heavily adulterated so this decision has been taken.
Salil Jain of Mumbai, an edible oil market expert, said after this decision the price of mustard oil will be hiked due to which the demand may be impacted.
At present, the wholesale price of 10 kg each of mustard oil is Rs 1,100, soya oil Rs 920 and palm oil nearly Rs 830 while the price of rice bran oil is even lesser.
Experts say that by mixing cheap edible oil with mustard oil, businessmen make more profits.
Sources said the adulteration of cheap edible oil with mustard oil was up to 80 per cent. However, experts point out that both consumers and farmers had to suffer because the latter did not get a fair price for their mustard crop.
The FSSAI sent an email on 24 September to the Food Safety Commissioners of all states and Union Territories of the country as well as the Central Licensing Authorities in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Guwahati, saying that from October 1 mixing of any other edible oil with mustard oil has been banned across the country.
The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has set a production target of 370 lakh tonne oilseeds in the forthcoming crop year 2020-21 (July-June), of which mustard production is targeted to reach 93.36 lakh tonne. The Central government has increased the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of mustard to Rs 4,650 per quintal, an increase of Rs 225.
(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
Support Swarajya's 50 Ground Reports Project & Sponsor A Story
Every general election Swarajya does a 50 ground reports project.
Aimed only at serious readers and those who appreciate the nuances of political undercurrents, the project provides a sense of India's electoral landscape. As you know, these reports are produced after considerable investment of travel, time and effort on the ground.
This time too we've kicked off the project in style and have covered over 30 constituencies already. If you're someone who appreciates such work and have enjoyed our coverage please consider sponsoring a ground report for just Rs 2999 to Rs 19,999 - it goes a long way in helping us produce more quality reportage.
You can also back this project by becoming a subscriber for as little as Rs 999 - so do click on this links and choose a plan that suits you and back us.
Click below to contribute.