C.Deivarajan, president, Madurai District Maavu Manufacturer’s Sangam.
MADURAI: The Madurai District Flour Manufacturers Association has appealed to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to relax the residue limit for besan flour by taking into account the crop characteristics of Bengal Gram from which this flour is derived directly.
A memorandum was submitted to top officials of FSSAI in New Delhi recently by requesting them to harmonize the Maximum Residue Limit for besan flour (derived from Bengal gram) in line with other agricultural produce like rice, wheat and groundnut.
C.Deivarajan, association president and P.J.Manoharan, secretary, have appealed to FSSAI to revise and set the limit for Chrolpyrifos in Besan flour in line with other basic agricultural products like rice, wheat, peanuts or to grant a special relaxation or exemption for Besan flour by taking into account the Bengal gram crop characteristics.
“If FSSAI harmonizes Maximum Residue Limits for Bengal gram also, it will ensure viability of flour manufacturing units especially in MSME sector. There are no possibilities for gram flour manufacturers to control or remove the residual levels of CHLORPYRIFOS found in Bengal gram crop during the flour production stage. Since Besan flour is derived directly from Bengal gram, flour manufacturers do not use any chemicals, preservatives or additives during the flour production process,” the Madurai District Maavu Manufacturer’s Association has appealed in its memorandum to FSSAI.
The association has said that holding besan flour manufacturing units accountable by FSSAI and penalising them for besan flour derived from agriculture produce Bengal Gram solely on the ground that it exceeds the prescribed limit of Chlorpyrifos is not justified.
“For major essential food commodities such as rice and wheat, the Chlorpyrifos is now permitted as 0.1 mg/Kg and these food items are used every day in large quantities. But, a default limit of 0.01mg / kg has been prescribed for besan flour. While higher permitted limits have been allowed for essential food items at 0.01 mg/KG, applying a strict limit for Chlorpyrifos in Besan flour is unjustified and we are appealing to FSSAI to harmonize, relax and reduce the Maximum Residue Limit which is prescribed for Besan flour that comes from Bengal gram,” association president C.Deivarajan and secretary P.J.Manoharan have appealed in a press statement issued from Madurai today-April 29th 2026.
