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New Delhi: Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has asked food safety officers of regional offices to collect samples of branded and unbranded eggs and send samples for testing at 10 laboratories across the country to check the presence of nitrofurans, ANI reported, citing sources.
The food safety regulator has rolled out a surveillance and enforcement campaign to test quality of eggs in the wake of an uproar on social media over a viral video which alleged that samples of a premium egg brand had traces of a banned, potentially cancer-causing substance.
Recently, Eggoz Nutrition, a brand which claims to market fresh and chemical-free eggs, found itself embroiled in a row. The controversy sparked off with a video by the YouTube channel Trustified, which is known for sending health stuffs to independent labs for testing. The channel claimed that samples of Eggoz eggs tested positive for AOZ, a metabolite of the antibiotic nitrofuran.
Nitrofuran is a group of synthetic antibiotics. They were once commonly used in livestock and poultry to prevent and treat infections. In many countries, including India, the use of nitrofuran in food-producing animals has been prohibited. There are concerns that nitrofuran pose potential cancer risks.
When nitrofuran is metabolised, it breaks down into compounds such as AOZ that can remain in animal tissues. These residues can enter the human food chain through products like meat, fish, or eggs. This has prompted food safety regulators to routinely check for nitrofuran metabolites to ensure compliance with safety standards.
Nitrofuran is banned in poultry farming as it is carcinogen. As it was reported that egg samples of Eggoz Nutrition tested positive for AOZ, a metabolite of the antibiotic nitrofuran. Even though the reported level — 0.73 parts per billion — was extremely low, it was sufficient to cast doubt on the brand’s much-publicised claim of being “100% antibiotic-free”.
On December 9, the company responded to the allegations. They said the product remains safe and technically compliant with Indian regulations, which permit a small margin of residue to account for unavoidable environmental factors such as contaminated groundwater.
Despite the company relying on technical clearances, the debate is now raging over over the gap between what is “legally safe” and what is truly “chemically free”.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka government has announced that it will verify claims circulating on social media that a particular brand of eggs contains genotoxic substances' which may cause cancer before taking any further action, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao has said. "Currently, there is no need for people to worry or be confused. It is better to arrive at a conclusion after verifying the facts. People need not worry unnecessarily," he added.
