THOOTHUKUDI: Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration department has sought an amendment to The Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006, claiming that the regulations only mention the minimum amounts of invert sugar and sucrose in palm jaggery (karupatti) and karkandu.
The department has conducted an experimental study to compare the sugar properties and concluded that the regulations, with no upper limit, favour those making sugar-blended products over those manufacturing traditional palm jaggery and karkandu.
Officials from food safety department told TNIE that the state government has accepted the proposal and forwarded it to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, along with the study report for approval.
According to a food safety official, who was part of the study, the department has made a proposal to limit the "total sugar expressed as invert sugar" in palm jaggery and karkandu at 92% and 90%, respectively.
Similarly, it pushes for the "total sugar expressed as sucrose" in the two products be in the range of 75-86% and 75-88%, respectively, with all the extraneous matter not exceeding 2.5% in karkandu.
As per the Food Safety and Standards Regulations, 2011, (Food Products Standards and Food Additives - section 2.8.4(1)), invert sugar and sucrose content in palm jaggery shall not be less than 90% and 60%, respectively. Similarly, karkandu must have 98% sucrose by weight, with no parameter for invert sugar.
The officials from the state department said that the absence of an upper limit allows sugar-blended products to meet the regulatory requirements, allegedly enabling adulterated products to be sold without impunity while damaging the credibility of traditional karupatti.
To address the issue, the officials recently conducted the study by collecting 23 samples of palm jaggery samples, 21 samples of sugar-blended jaggery, 26 samples of karkandu and 31 samples of sugar-blended karkandu. The samples were sent to four renowned food analysis laboratories.
According to the results, palm jaggery contained 92.3% of invert sugar and 86.1% of sucrose, compared to the 95.8% (invert sugar) and 88.4% (sucrose) in sugar-blended jaggery -- within the permissible limits mentioned in the regulations.
Meanwhile, traditional karkandu had 87.3% sucrose, as against the 91.3% in sugar-blended karkandu, both not meeting the 98% baseline for sucrose mentioned in the regulations.
The study further found that the pathaneer collected from across Thoothukudi district contains an average of 16.1% of invert sugar, 15.3% of sucrose, 16.6 g/100 g of carbohydrate and 66.3 kcal of energy/100 g. When pathaneer was boiled to make jaggery, the carbohydrate level increased to 68.8 g/100 g, whereas invert sugar spiked to 63.07%, and sucrose to 59.9%, the study revealed.