SOMA members lock horns over edible oil adulteration

Member of the Saurashtra Oil Miller Association (SOMA) are at logger heads over the issue of edible oil adulteration and price inflation by some of the members of the trade body. A group of members have also demanded setting up of a testing laboratory to check mixing of chemicals in edible oil.

The differences in opinions among members surfaced in SOMA's recently concluded Annual General Meeting (AGM), which saw heated arguments over adulteration of edible oil, especially groundnut oil.

Ukabhai Patel, president of SOMA, blamed some millers of adulterating edible oils. Responding to the president's remark, couple of millers from Gondal and Amreli opposed it and demanded disclosure of their names, who indulge in adulteration.

According to sources, some of the industry players use chemicals in low grade edible oil and sell it as a groundnut oil. Couple of members also asked for setting up a laboratory by SOMA and offer certification of purity.

The AGM also saw prolonged discussion on how some millers and traders provide incorrect figures of sales volumes with vested interest of price escalation. The members also expressed their disappointment with regard to organised corporate giants partiality in sourcing bulk edible oil from small millers.

"The companies, who manufacture and market branded edible oils, avoid sourcing bulk edible oil from all the millers and buys only from selected millers. As a result, small sized millers have to off-load their stocks at much cheaper rates", a miller said on the condition of anonymity.

On the other hand, companies operating in organised sector are of the view that they can not buy bulk edible oil from all the millers in the industry. "We select only those, who supply best quality edible oils", said a company official.