State sent bread samples to Assam Lab

SHILLONG, JUNE 23: After the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI) banned the use of potassium bromate as an additive in food products, the state health department has sent bread samples to the Assam Public Health Laboratory on Wednesday to ensure whether the breads contain any hazardous chemicals like potassium bromate and iodate

Food Safety Officers in Meghalaya collected samples of bread from various bakery units across the state to ascertain presence of carcinogenic compounds in bread.

Meghalaya health minister AL Hek told reporters on Thursday, “We have already sent the bread samples to the Assam Public Health Laboratory on Wednesday if they contain any hazardous chemicals like potassium bromate and iodate.”

The government is yet to receive the reports from the laboratory.

“In case, the samples fails to comply with the provisions of the food safety and standards Act, and is reported to contain such additive, necessary actions as per the provisions of the Act shall be initiated,” Hek said.

Potassium bromate is known to be a category 2B carcinogen and is already banned in Britain, the European Union, Australia, Canada and Sri Lanka, among others.

Following the revelation over the presence of carcinogenic compounds in packaged bread Food Safety Officers (FSOs) across the state have been instructed to collect the bread samples at earliest from their respective areas for evaluating the chemical contents present in the bread which is consumed in maximum households as one of the most preferred edible items.-By Our Reporter