The Hindu Business Line : EU notification: Govt to take up sampling of entire chain of guar gum

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EU notification: Govt to take up sampling of entire chain of guar gum

Mohan Padmanabhan

Kolkata, Aug 29

A recent meeting convened by the Department of Commerce, Government of India, of all stakeholders to discuss the alert issued by the European Commission about the presence of dioxins and Pentachlorophenol (PCP) in food grade guar gum exported from India, has decided that within the next one month, wide sampling of the entire chain of guar gum needs to be done to establish the seriousness of the Union Government’s response.

Following the EU notification on presence of dioxins and PCPs, the EU Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RTASFF) has informed all member States that in certain batches of guar gum from India, the contamination levels were very high.

According to the expert of Vimta Specialities Ltd (the sole designated lab for testing guar gum), which participated in the meeting, presence of compounds like poly chlorinated di benzo dioxin (PCDD) and poly chlorinated di benzo furan (PCDF) in food products even at parts per trillion level are treated as hazardous.

It is learnt that these, also notified as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), are chemical substances that can be present in the environment for a long time after their release and ultimately get accumulated in the food chain, particularly in the fatty tissue, and reach concentrations that may affect human health and environment. According to experts, contamination with these chemicals can occur through waste wood, contaminated soil, water etc.

Even as representatives from the guar gum industry are crying hoarse over calls from guar gum importers asking for certificates on presence of dioxins etc, it is learnt from informed sources that at present there was no pucca system to establish presence of dioxins in guar gum which was being exported.

Sources said while the Hyderabad-based Vimta Lab had the necessary equipment to test presence of dioxins in guar gum, what is required was to identify the source of contamination right from the stage of cultivation along with samples of air, water and soil at the crop growing area, manufacturing process etc. Vimta, it is learnt, has already procured some 8 samples following the EC advisory.

Testing facility

The Shellac and Forest Products Export Promotion Council, the nodal agency for guar exports, is said to have urged the Government that the testing facility set up by the export inspection council at Chennai may be relocated at Jodhpur, as bulk of the exporting units were located there. The council has already been asked to submit a note on steps taken to ensure contamination-free internationally accepted supplies, and also nominate a national expert to participate in the pre-mission visit of an EC team from Sppetember 3-7, 2007.

According to Mr Pradeep K. Shaw, Chairman of Shefexil, Dr B.S.Chillar, Director, Haryana Agricultural University, Hissar, has been nominated as the expert on guar gum.

It is learnt that Vimta, as an approved lab, would be provided all help to expedite the sample testing. The EC inspection team would be apprised of the steps being taken to tackle the situation, and also shown the facilities at the manufacturing plants in Jodhpur, besides a visit to Vimta’s testing facility at Hyderabad.

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Defect suspected in Indian guar gum shipments

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