Ruckus over ‘plastic’ eggs

Just as the food safety authorities have got their act together to check the veracity of ‘farm eggs containing plastic’, referred to by a section of the media as ‘Chinese eggs’ by dispatching samples collected from stores in Ernakulam for lab tests, a group of BJP workers created boisterous scenes in front of a hypermarket at Vyttila, claiming that it had been selling ‘factory-made Chinese eggs’.

T. Balachandran, general secretary of the BJP for Thrikkakara constituency, who led the workers to the hypermarket soon after the hartal called by the party was over around 6 p.m., said the eggs supplied by an Edapally-based merchant under two brand names “contained plastic that burnt with a rustle”. One of the workers said the “eggs are manufactured at factories in China and reach Kerala through Namakkal in Tamil Nadu”, referring to some articles suggesting the same in language dailies in Malayalam over the past two days.

However, the food safety authorities said it was impossible to “manufacture eggs in factories”, nor could they be adulterated “by inserting plastic into the shell”. “However, since there was a huge public outcry, we collected samples from various stores in Ernakulam and sent them for testing in our own laboratory as well as at Kerala Agricultural University at Mannuthy.

“We are trying our level best to obtain the test result tomorrow [Friday],” he told The Hindu .

Officials, who did not want to be quoted, said the eggs in question could have been dipped in a wax solution for preservation, and that the thin wrap of what was described by people as plastic could be wax.

The phenomenon of eggs containing ‘plastic’ was first reported in Idukki district.

While K.P. Aravindan, president of Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad, lamented the absence of critical thinking and common sense among a large section of credulous people who bought the factory-made egg story without an iota of doubt.

An article published on Luca , an online science magazine supported by the Parishad on Wednesday had called the doubters’ bluff by questioning the technical feasibility and economic infeasibility of the whole story.

It is impossible to manufacture eggs in factories, nor can they be adulterated by inserting plastic into shell.

Food safety officials