Foreign hand behind adulteration: experts

NEW DELHI, August 30: The Forum for Biotechnology and Food Security, a collective of well-known agricultural scientists, economists, farm...

NEW DELHI, August 30: The Forum for Biotechnology and Food Security, a collective of well-known agricultural scientists, economists, farmer leaders, environmentalists and policy makers, sees a definite conspiracy behind the large-scale adulteration of mustard oil.

8220;It has all the ingredients of an economic espionage. A careful examination of the timing of the outbreak of dropsy epidemic in Delhi and the neighbouring areas clearly brings out the hidden motive. For nearly six months now, the government has been under tremendous pressure to import edible oils and oilseeds, especially soyabean,8221; the forum8217;s president Devinder Sharma said.

The government has finally decided to allow the free import of oilseeds, including one million tonne of contaminated soyabean from the United States. Interestingly, the soyabean import is the first major consignment of genetically- engineered seed and also brings along five weeds and eleven viral diseases, he alleged. The move to ensure that the soyabean seeds upon import are split before being processed, is essentially aimed at justifying the sub-standard imports, he added.

The US has had a bumper harvest of soyabean this year. With a production of 150 million tonnes, and with recession all around, the market has been rather sluggish, he said.

Calling for a detailed investigation bythe Central Bureau of Investigation CBI, the Forum appealed to the edible oil industry to help bring the culprits to book. After all, the private industry and trade along with the National Dairy Development Board NDDB will have to do a lot of explanation for ascertaining the real causes and motives behind the death of 25 people and the hospitalisation of another 1,000.

The Forum said argemone seed that causes dropsy, has been growing for centuries along with mustard, but has never led to the outbreak of an epidemic.

8220;In any case, the mustard crop is harvested in March-April, and if the outbreak was to happen it should have taken place latest by May and June, when the edible oil from the new crop hits the market.8221;