With an increase in the circulation of fake eggs in Tripura, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued an alert in the state and asked the government schools to be careful while serving eggs in the midday meals.
“We are giving a double thought before serving eggs to our schools ” says U K Chakma, Director of state elementary education department,
The state, however, has no leads on how to identify hoax eggs. “Hoax eggs are little reddish in colour, they are not smooth as normal eggs and are little bigger in size,” the state veterinary officer said.
Meanwhile, egg traders are going through a lot of confusion. “As the eggs are imported in bulk from Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, it becomes difficult for us to track fake eggs,” said a local trader
As cross-border trade is common in Tripura, Bangladesh being a manufacturer of the hoax eggs has become a threat for Tripura. However, China is also being held responsible for flooding Indian markets with fake eggs. Another reason behind it can also be that since fake eggs are cheaper than the normal eggs, the profit margin is also higher.
Since the fake eggs are made of calcium chloride, which smells exactly like an egg, many parts of India especially Andhra Pradesh, Kerela and Tamil Nadu are facing this problem. As the eggs also look like the real ones, it gets very difficult to detect the difference.
However, a hoax egg can be detected by touching as the shells of the fake ones are usually more rough than the real one.
