Date:05/07/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/07/05/stories/2006070503031800.htm

Business

`Make natural vanillin mandatory in ice-creams'

Staff Reporter

KOCHI: Vanilla India Producer Company Limited (Vanilco) has made a plea to the Union Commerce Ministry for a legislation that will make it mandatory for ice-cream manufacturers to use at least one per cent natural vanilla in ice-creams that are sold under the vanilla-flavoured category.

The appeal from Vanilco has been made in a memorandum submitted to Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh recently by its managing director and chief operating officer Paul Jose.

Mr. Jose claimed that it was mandatory for ice-cream makers in the United States to use at least 10 per cent natural vanilla in ice-creams.

Only those who used natural vanilla to that level could market vanilla-flavoured ice-creams in that country, he added.

"In India the use of natural vanilla is limited. Instead, ice-cream makers use synthetic vanillin and other substances that are substituted for natural vanilla.

These substances are harmful to health," he said.

The Vanilco official also demanded that those who used synthetic flavours in their ice-creams should market them as such so that the customers who bought the ice-creams knew what the flavouring agent was.

Mr. Jose pointed out in a press release here on Monday that about 650 tonnes of synthetic vanillin was imported into India annually.

"The import basically goes into food products."

According to him, the Government should take steps to build a special fund from using the excise duty levied on imported synthetic vanillin so that the money could be utilised for research and development in vanilla.

Vanilco is a producer company that is in vanilla cultivation, procurement and processing as well as using them for value-added products.

Mr. Jose said that the price of vanilla ruled extremely low and that even if the natural one replaced one per cent of the current synthetic vanilla use, it would be substantial for the farmers.

He expects the price of vanilla, now ruling low, to improve substantially in the future.

However, he said that some help was needed at this juncture for the farmers and expected the Government to help out.