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NECC seeks to dispel rumours of plastic eggs on social media through Rs1,000 challenge
Officials on Monday announced a reward of Rs1,000, if a person manages to bring to them - a plastic egg- which looks like a natural egg
With rumours of plastic eggs being sold in the market running riot on social media, veterinary experts, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC) hatched plan to break the shell and dispel the rumours.
Officials on Monday announced a reward of Rs1,000, if a person manages to bring to them - a plastic egg- which looks like a natural egg. The rumours, which came into circulation last week on social media feeds, has been hurting the poultry industry as it detests people from consuming eggs, according to the officials who conducted a press conference in the city along with experts.
The National Egg Coordination Committee officials said that it is impossible to qualify a plastic egg as a natural egg and challenged residents to submit a plastic egg to NECC and get Rs1,000 each for such eggs.
Ajit Ranade, dean, Mumbai Veterinary College; SS Deshmukh, joint commissioner, Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration; MB Desai, NECC chairman, Mumbai; PK Bhagat, NECC chairman, Pune and Prassana Pedgaonkar, general manager, Venkateswara hatcheries addressed the press conference and denied the rumors about the existence of plastic egg.
All experts appealed to the residents to eat eggs as it is the cheapest source of protein for everyone.
Ranade said, “The structure of an egg is complex and when a person breaks the shell, they can easily remove the shell membrane which looks like plastic, but it is not plastic. If the egg is stale, then the membrane is thicker and looks like plastic, but be assured that it is not plastic as it is not possible to make eggs from plastic.”
Deshmukh said, “ As an officer of the FDA, we have been receiving a lot of complaints about plastic eggs. The same issue had occurred four years ago and we had collected a lot of samples from Maharashtra and India, but we could not find evidence of even a single plastic egg. It is wrong to misguide the people and agencies. There are no plastic eggs in the market.”
Pedgaonkar said, “Farmers are involved in the egg business and the rumours of plastic egg circulating on social media, has a direct impact on these farmers. The industry is generating employment for almost 10 lakh people in Maharashtra. If natural egg is available at a cheaper cost of Rs5, why would someone spend extra money and make the plastic egg?”
Desai and Bhagat said, “Such rumours force people to stop eating eggs. We are sure that it is not possible to make plastic eggs, but if someone has plastic eggs, they should submit it to the NECC and take Rs1,000 as a reward.”
NECC also appealed to the police that while taking action against egg transporters, they should think about the rumours. “If the police wants to take egg samples, they can freely do so as no one will object, but seizing the vehicle carrying eggs on false complaints is wrong,” Bhagat added.
