Hyderabad: Chenguang Biotech (India) Pvt. Ltd, a factory in Mudigonda of Khammam district that extracts colour and capsicum pigment from chilli, is facing a probe by the Telangana State vigilance and enforcement for selling ‘chilli spent’ that is treated with chemicals like acetone and hexane for human consumption.
The vigilance department, which had been conducting searches for the past few days, seized huge quantities of chilli spent and chilli seed from cold storages in Khammam, Mahb-ubad and Warangal districts and found that they originated from Chenguang Biotech.
Vigilance sleuths identified five to six major traders who were buying the chilli spent and stocking it in cold storage, selling it or making adulterated chilli powder and sauce and distributing it across AP and Telangana.
The Chinese-owned company said the product was not for human or animal consumption and was for use as bio-fuel. It claimed that the traders were ignorant of this and were using chilli spent to adulterate chilli powder.
Chenguang Biotech assistant general manager (finance), B. Srinivas said, “We are into natural colour extraction business. In the process, we procure red and dried chilli from the local markets and farmers.”
Explaining the process, he said that during extraction, the seeds come out during the first phase through a mechanical process. The rest is crushed into powder and made into pellets. In the second phase, the pellets are applied with chemicals like solvents of acetone and hexane, which absorb colour. After the absorption, we get chill spent. We evaporate the chemical and sell the dry spent.”
Mr Srinivas added, “While selling we are taking precautions. We undertake not to misuse the product. Final product is exported out of the country and is used for food and medicinal purpose.”
He added, “For the last four years, the chilli price was low but rose this year. So traders may have resorted to using it in chilli powder for human consumption which we are not aware of it. It is supposed to be used for boiler firing, fertilisers and at kilns for baking bricks.”
The Khammam factory has been supplying chilli spent to 20 customers, including five major buyers. Vigilance inspector N. Venkatesh said, “It all started with sear-ches on Sri Venkateswara Cold Storage in Madhira of Khammam district where we seized 676 bags of chilli spent which belonged to Vengal Rao of Guntur. By the time we raided, two trucks already gone out. Later we searched Sri Matha Cold Storage where 3,079 bags owned by trader B. Chaitanya were found. All the stock was from Chenguang Biotech."
He added, “In another search at Pallipadu in Konijerla we seized 1.4 lakh chilli seed bags — each bag weighing 40 kg — at Swaranbharathi Cold Storage. It was said to be deposited by a representative of Chenguang Biotech. Around 40,000 bags were already sent out. We are also looking at commercial tax evasion angle,"
Vigilance sleuths also seized 27,375 bags of chilli spent from Sri Ganesh Cold Storage, which is 100 yards away from the Chenguang Biotech plant. The vigilance department found that former husk traders Lakshminarayana of Sri Balaji Traders, B. Chaitanya of Shiridi Sai Corporation, Sambasiva Rao of Sri Sai Baba Traders, Y. Eswar Reddy of Sri Sai Biomass were stocking the chilli spent.
Racketeers use illegal colours too
Disallowed colours like Sudan dye are used by racketeers to give colour to chilli powder and red dried chillies of low quality. Kahmmam district designated food insp-ector P Chandrasekhar said, “We have taken samples of chilli spent and chilli seeds from cold storage units in Khammam district to test for the presence of chemicals. The samples have been sent to the State Food Laboratory at Nacharam,”
He said the use of solvent-laced chilli content was injurious to health.
“They cause ulcers in the duodenum,” he said. Mr Chandrasekhar said, “In another case, rackateers were adding non-permitted carcinogenic colours to low quality dried chilli. This is Sudan dye, a non-permitted oil-soluble colo-ur. We had filed a case in a Khammam court in December 2015 and the case is with the first class judicial magistrate.”
Meanwhile, two more firms in Hyde-rabad and Prakasam districts are under the scanner of the vigilance department regarding the sale of chilli spent. Police found that racketeers in TS and AP were linked. It was found that chilli spent was sent to Guntur to make adulterated chilli powder.
