Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 6 Oct 1998

Vol. 494 No. 4

Written Answers. - Adulteration of Food.

John Gormley

Ceist:

133 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the Pure Food Campaign which has arisen from the Navdanya Biodiversity Campaign Movement in India as a result of the apparently deliberate adulteration on a widespread basis by multinational corporate interests of the mustard oil supply in that country; the plans, if any, he has to lend the support of the Irish Government to that campaign; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18329/98]

John Gormley

Ceist:

134 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the apparently deliberate adulteration of a basic primary foodstuff of India, mustard oil, by American based multinational corporate interests on a scale that has been described by one of the world's leading scientists as genocide (details supplied); the plans, if any, he has to take up the matter with the United States Ambassador here and with our Ambassador to India in view of the serious risks to the health of the Indian population; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18330/98]

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Andrews)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 133 and 134 together.

The various matters raised by the Deputy in these questions have not previously been drawn to my attention. The known facts appear to be as follows.

Adulteration of food and food products has, I understand, been widespread in India for a long time, notwithstanding the existence of legislation on the prevention of food adulteration which, since 1954, has prescribed minimum standards for various food products. I am informed that there have been outbreaks of mustard oil contamination in recent years, for example in Calcutta in 1988.

In August 1998 some 50 people died and over 1,850 people were taken ill in New Delhi, India as a result of the adulteration of mustard oil, which is a commonly used cooking ingredient, particularly in north and north eastern India, with argemone seeds. As a result, in late August, the sale of mustard oil was banned in over a dozen Indian states, including Delhi, under the 1954 Prevention of Food Adulteration Act. It has been reported in the Indian press that a number of manufacturers of various mustard oil brands have been arrested following investigations which also involved the police and autonomous research bodies. More stringent enforcement of the legislation to prevent food adulteration is likely in the future. I understand that the ban on the sale of mustard oil has already been relaxed in New Delhi.

The documentation supplied by the Deputy contains a suggestion that in this instance the adulteration of mustard oil was deliberate rather than accidential. However, the information available to me and indeed the document itself does not offer any evidence of a deliberate act.