Synthetic Colours are being used by almost all food manufacturing companies. Limits on the use of colours are being monitored by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. The violation is liable for punishment, which could include jail term.
As a part of its Good Bye to Colour campaign, Bakers Association Kerala (Bake) plans to remove colours from all the bakery items produced in the state. As an experimental initiative, 210 bakery producers in the Nattika assembly constituency of Thrissur district have been producing non-coloured bakery items of late.
Colourful bakery products, a specialty of Kerala, have huge markets in both its rural and urban areas. Bakers in the state feared that a complete removal of colours from bakery products could reduce their demand and adversely affect profits.
With the campaign (which was launched in 2007), Bake aims to create public awareness about the consumption of colourless bakery products. It initiated various awareness programmes and cleanliness drives to encourage healthy bakery products. If it succeeds in Nattika, it would spread to all parts of Kerala.
They felt that using colour above a certain level is harmful for consumption. Doctors also say that colours contain adulterants,which may cause diseases.
Similarly, a movement to produce transfat-free products has been launched by the organisation. It is also focussing on reviving the production of traditional items such as ‘kozhukatta’, ‘sukhian’ and ‘ada’, in a bid to present age-old savouries and snacks to the new generation.