Will initiate severe action against adulterated sago, govt assures court

Government advocate KMD Mugilan made the submission before Justice SM Subramaniam that if any such food product, more specifically wet starch, was found not in conformity with the regulations, actions would be taken.

The submission was made on a plea moved by N Natarajan about the alleged illegal sales of wet starch, a material used to prepare javvarisi. “After purchasing the wet starch, chemicals are mixed by unlawful elements to make the sago look attractive in pure white colour. The chemicals mixed in the material would cause serious health hazards to the consumers,” G.Murugendran, advocate for the petitioner, argued.

When the plea was taken up on October 5, Justice Subramaniam collected three varieties of sago and gave it to the Food Safety and Drug Department to check whether the items were adulterated or not. The department submitted the results of test before the court through the government advocate on Wednesday.

“As per the said report, out of three samples sent by the court for analysis, two samples are in conformity with the standards fixed in the statute, and in respect of one sample, there is a slight variation. The variation would not cause much harm to the consumers. It is contended that out of nine tests, the variation is found in only one test, that is too negligible,” the judge observed.

The judge also told the petitioner that if he found any illegality in the sales of sago, he was at liberty to approach the competent authorities and held that they are bound to initiate appropriate action as per law.

After the government advocate assured of stringent action against the illegal or adulterated sales of sago, the court disposed of the petition.