Though Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in May last year had issued a circular which mandated colour coding of non-edible ice, fact checking done by The Hindu found that the norm is yet to be enforced.
The circular had mandated blue dyeing for non-edible ice. Edible ice were to be colourless as per the circular.
Fish traders, who use non-edible ice for preservative purposes, claimed that manufacturers of industrial ice were not supplying colour-coded ice.
“We are not aware of the circular on blue dye to be used for non-edible ice. We have been getting colourless ice blocks like before,” said a fish trader from Ukkadam.
He added that the vendor, who sells him ice, has also been supplying ice blocks to eateries and bakeries.
Use of ice prepared for industrial purposes in juices is a concern as chances are less for the manufacturer to have used potable water for ice making. Some of the roadside vendors selling fresh juice were found using colourless ice blocks to cool the drink after crushing into small pieces. Sugarcane juice sellers place small blacks of such ice on the juice dropping point of the machine to get the drink cooled.
However, B. Vijayalalithambigai, designated FSSAI official in Coimbatore, said that checks done by the regulatory body at restaurants and eateries found that they were using edible colourless ice cubes.
“Use of non-edible ice blocks has largely reduced due to frequent checks done by FSSAI,” she said.
