The import of hydrogenated edible oil has become a bone of contention between the vanaspati industry and its industrial users, including the bakery and confectionery industries. While the industrial users are demanding the permission to import the commodity, the vanaspati industry is against it.
The bakery and confectionery industries are requesting the Centre to put in place standards for the import of edible vegetable oil in hydrogenated form and the individual non-hydrogenated oils. The currently imported hydrogenated vegetable oil do not meet the requirement of vanaspati.
The request is relevant as the Codex Alimentarius Commission has prescribed the standards for specified vegetable fats. It covers the semi solid products which consist of an edible vegetable fat or a blend of edible vegetable oils and fats. In real sense, this is vanaspati as prescribed under the PFA rules, 1955, but without mandatory addition of sesame oil and vitamin A and D.
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The oils and fats sub-committee of the central committee for food standards is evaluating the adoption of the Codex standards in the PFA rules for individual hydrogenated oil with some modifications.
The options being considered, sources told Business Standard, are addition of parameters like 'unsaponifiable matter', 'BR reading' and 'residue of nickel' and a direction like 'such oils shall nor contain any flavours and colours". Options like prescription of the BR value and unsaponifiable matter and limiting the use to the industry are being studied, sources said.
"Because such oil is used as adulterant in desi ghee and butter, some additional conditions for movement of these oils and proper labeling information like the name of the oil and declaration 'Not for sale in India, but for industrial use only' can be added while importing."
However, the vanaspati industry is against such a modification. S Gurumoorthi, executive secretary of Vanaspati Manufacturers Association (VMA) said: "If the proposal is okayed by the government, it would destroy the vanaspati and processing industries along with oilseed farmers while helping the edible oil exporting countries to switch over to hydrogenated palm oil and soybean oil."
The likelihood of misuse of this oil for adulteration by ghee manufacturers would also increase, he added.