The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Thursday issued a directive in which India's food safety authority withdrew its earlier notification that seeks to rename curd packets as "Dahi". The move sparked a row in Tamil Nadu as the state government termed it Hindi imposition.
"FSSAI has notified provisions for omission of the term 'curd' from the Standard of Fermented Milk Products vide notification dated 11 Jan 2023," the press release read.
TN CM condemns Hindi imposition in labelling curd
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday condemned imposition of Hindi even in labelling curd and said those responsible for it would be "banished" from southern parts of the country. On his Twitter handle, Stalin posted a news report on Food Safety and Standards Authority of India directing Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) to label curd as "dahi" prominently. The Bengaluru datelined report in "The Hindu" on Wednesday said the FSSAI directed the KMF to use the Kannada equivalent for curd "mosaru" in brackets.
"The FSSAI clarification on labelling curd has come recently after Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka milk federations sought usage of local names on the curd sachets," the report said.
Also, Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation has been told by FSSAI that to Tamil words "tair" or "tayir" could be used in brackets.
Citing the report, Stalin said: "The unabashed insistences of #HindiImposition have come to the extent of directing us to label even a curd packet in Hindi, relegating Tamil & Kannada in our own states.
Such brazen disregard to our mother tongues will make sure those responsible are banished from South forever."
FSSAI's move faced protest from milk producers in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Karnataka.
(With PTI input)
