Nervous families shun fried sweets and kadala
Food outlets selling New Year sweets and gram have suffered a loss of business following the detection of carcinogenic coconut oil.
Vendors said consumers fear aflatoxin-tainted oil has reached the market.
Ramesh Hasintha, who owns a sweets shop in Pettah, said his business has suffered a major hit following the detection of substandard coconut oil. People were worried about the safety of New Year sweets cooked in oil.
“Sales of Kavum, kokis and athiraha, the sweets that are usually in high demand during New Year periods have dropped,” he said.
Gram shop owners too said their business has also dropped sharply as did shops selling fried foods such as cassava chips and vadai.
Shop owner Selvaraja Akilan said he had hoped to make money this year at Avurudu to recover from losses caused by the pandemic shutdowns last year but sales were worse because of people avoiding purchases of fried gram.
“I used to restock my shop every day but now I only buy small amounts due to poor sales,” Mr. Akilan said.
The aflatoxin-tainted coconut oil imported by Katana Refineries was ordered to be returned to the source country under Customs supervision following a report by the Sri Lanka Standards Institute (SLSI) that the oil was unsuited for consumption.