Sale of mixed coconut oil will be banned – Minister

A new gazette notification will be issued soon preventing the sale of mixed coconut oil, Industry Minister Wimal Weerawansa said.

He said that the previous government had allowed blending other oils with coconut oil through a gazette notification.Weerawansa stated that steps have already been taken to provide high quality hygienic coconut oil to the people instead of carcinogenic coconut oil.

He was speaking to the media after inspecting the rice flour factory at the Veyangoda Food Department warehouse complex recently. During the reign of Mahinda Rajapaksa, the production of flour from rice was started to encourage rice flour among the people rather than flour. That is according to the policies of the government. But today this industry is in a difficult situation.

At present I am contributing on behalf of a third party that converts coconut, cinnamon, etc. into flour and exports it to the export market. But it is not enough in view of the challenges facing the industry at present, the Minister said.

I submitted a Cabinet paper to import copra required for local coconut oil production. This is to provide a solution to the current crisis regarding coconut oil, the Minister said.

(Source: Daily News – By M.P. Kumara)