BENGALURU: After Puducherry and Tamil Nadu, Karnataka may soon ban cotton candy and regulate the sale of popular street foods, like chicken kabab, gobi manchurian and others, that are said to contain Rhodamine B, a textile dye, which is a cancer-causing chemical.
Sources from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said they collected food samples from across the state, including Bengaluru, and the test results “confirmed” the presence of Rhodamine B, a carcinogen that is added to give food items the bright hue.
The laboratory results of the collected food samples have been received and keeping this as the foundation, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao is on Monday likely to announce the ban on cotton candy and regulate the sale of other food items.
Earlier this year, cotton candy, a favourite among children, was labelled “very harmful” after tests conducted at a government laboratory in Tamil Nadu detected the presence of Rhodamine B. Following the test results, both the Puducherry and Tamil Nadu governments imposed a blanket ban on cotton candy.
Health experts said Rhodamine B, which is cheap, is commonly used to give vibrant colours not only to cotton candy, but also jellies and candies, and surprisingly, even chilli powder.
“We collected cotton candy samples across the state. We also randomly collected the samples of food items that are believed to be infused with chemicals to give them a bright, attractive colour. These chemicals when consumed can cause various health problems, ranging from throat irritation to stomach pain, and have the potential to lead to birth defects and several types of cancers,” an FSSAI source said.