Campaign to spread awareness about Adulteration in edible oils
Consumers to check before buying the Sunflower Oil
Hyderabad: Edible oil is one of the most important components in cooking food. Every household uses edible oils like sunflower oil, mustard oil, groundnut oil, palm oil, etc. in preparation of their day-to-day meals. However, although everyone uses edible oils, there is a lack of knowledge about features and benefits of different oils and the impact they have on our health. The pack designs, use of images on packaging, celebrity endorsements and pricing play a critical role in the choice for edible oils. Sometimes, consumers are lured into purchasing sub-standard products by using graphic representations on packs (SKU’s) to mislead buyers and encourage purchase with huge discounts on pricing. A confused buyer often falls prey to such tactics.
It is observed that, some manufacturers are selling adulterated edible oil intending to make money. This is done as when some manufacturers of edible oils collude with the vendors and resort to supplying the adulterated products and pack them in counterfeit designs, colours, logos, and letters resembling the standard brand packs of some popular companies. These fake products are being supplied in packs, which look like originals. Though the text ‘Refined Sunflower Oil’ is written on these packs, mostly inferior quality oil is placed inside. Nowadays in India, Sunflower oil is replacing the other oils due to its health benefits and ability to cook more food with less oil. However, as the price for Sunflower oil is higher, some unscrupulous players mix it with other cheap oils such as palm oil, castor oil and other in edible oils, retain the image of Sunflower oil on the pack and sell it at a lower price. Consumers need to BEWARE and carefully purchase the Sunflower Oil Brand of their choice.
Some of the brands showing Sunflower oil image on their pack but in it sunflower oil is not there. Alerted over the issue, reputed brands of edible oil are gearing up for taking legal action with help of police, courts against the adulterated oil manufacturers and marketers. The authorities and vendors are also getting sensitized to the seriousness of the issue.
Speaking about the seriousness of this issue, Mr. P Chandrashekhara Reddy, Vice President Sales & Marketing, Freedom Healthy Cooking Oils said, “Today, we are making a cautious effort in informing the consumers about the benefits of different oils, the flavours and aroma some of them provide to traditional cuisines impacting the preference and perceptions of consumers on these edible oils. Besides this, we are also making the consumers aware that all pouches with an image of Sunflower Oil, might not contain the desired quantity of sunflower oil, even if it is being sold at a lower price. We request the consumers to choose RIGHT – choose Freedom oil for pure healthy sunflower oil. Freedom Refined Sunflower Oil is manufactured hygienically in a state-of-art plant. Each batch undergoes 100 periodic and 24 batch level quality checks to ensure quality assurance and maintain your trust. So, we urge the consumers to choose right, choose only Freedom Refined Sunflower oil – a brand you trust and be safe or any other standard brand of Sunflower Oil.”
Adding to this, Mr. Binu Davis, South Zone Sales Head for Fortune Sunlite Oil brand said, “It has been observed that, some of the brands of edible oil copy the image of Sunflower oil and sell sunflower oil mixed with other cheaper oils. This practice will increase, as the price of imported sunflower oil is increasing. We advise the customers to only trust the brand they prefer like – Fortune or other standard brands and be sure of the quality.”
According to Mr. P Thirumalesh Reddy, Marketing Manager, Vijaya Refined Sunflower Oils, “The practice of selling Sunflower oil blended with other cheaper oils is more prevalent in rural areas, interiors as in major towns most of the distributors ensure availability of standard brands at the retail outlets. Extensive spread of modern retail with in-house quality protocols also helps filter out spurious oils. Our sincere request to the consumers is to purchase the brand of oil like Vijaya that you have trusted for many years by carefully checking the brand name and pack design to stay safe and be assured.”
Recently in order to crack down on adulterated edible oil in India, the country’s apex food safety regulator—Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)—commissioned a pan-India survey. This survey covered over 4,500 samples and 16 varieties of edible oil, including mustard, coconut, palm, olive and blended oil. The whole exercise is aimed at ensuring the availability of pure and safe mustard and other varieties of edible oil in the country. The tests were conducted as an initiative to educate the consumers and make them conscious of the adulteration present in the loose oil currently available in the market. As for the government, it is our sincere appeal to take immediate contingency measures to stop the sales of loose edible oil, and punish the offenders.
