Kerala govt to crack whip on vegetables with pesticide content

After a ban on Maggi noodles, Kerala government is mulling cracking the whip on sale of vegetables with high pesticides content coming from neighbouring states.
A high-level meeting convened by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will be held here tomorrow, as part of a move to impose a ban on such vegetables, Health Minister V S Sivakumar said here today.
The move follows complaints that vegetables with high pesticides residue were being brought from neighbouring states along with organic vegetables.
The minister said the Kerala government would also hold talks with neighbouring states to ensure that vegetables with high pesticide content are not sold in the state.

As part of efforts to prevent sale of such vegetables, government has made it mandatory for all vegetables traders to get license and registration.
Vehicles bringing vegetables from other states have also got to register themselves under the Food Safety and Quality Act, Sivakumar said, speaking at a meeting convened by the government in which 58 wholesale vegetable traders took part.

Tests would also be conducted from tomorrow on organic vegetables, he said.
The minister said 80 food safety officers posts have been created and the appointments are expected to be made as early as possible. Government labs have been given sophisticated equipment for effective testing, he said.

Food Safety Commissioner T V Anupama and Joint Commissioner K Anil Kumar were among those who participated in the meeting.
Kerala government had issued an order to stop distribution of Maggi noodles from over 1,000 retail outlets in the state in the wake of Uttar Pradesh FSDA finding monosodium glutamate and lead above permissible limits in the popular snack.