Five Tonnes Of Adulterated Tea Powder Seized In Chennai, One Held Responsible

Food safety officials of Kancheepuram district on Tuesday seized 5 tonnes of adulterated tea powder from a house in West Tambaram and detained one person with respect to the case.

Wood powder and expired tea powder used

The food safety raid was conducted in a house in Old State Bank Colony, West Tambaram and the godown in-charge Ram alias Ramakrishnan (45) was detained. According to reports by food safety officials, Ramakrishnan would be handed over to the Tambaram police.

The raid was conducted following complaints of fake and adulterated tea powder in the locality, said the officials. Wood powder, expired tea powder and other similar stuff weighing over 5 tons were seized by the team of food safety officials under executive officer Ramakrishnan. The above-mentioned substances were used to make fake and adulterated tea powder in the name of popular tea brands.

Gastric and kidney ailments

The seized products are worth Rs 5 lakhs, the officials said. Meanwhile, the adulterated tea would cause gastric and kidney ailments along with cancer said executive officer Ramakrishnan to the publication.

“When the unadulterated tea is dropped in cold water, the water remains same but adulterated tea will change the water into brown suggesting that the chemicals added to add color to the tea,” he added.

With respect to the issue, Ramakrishnan also urged the consumers to lodge complaints if they come across adulterated tea.