Aluminium utensils manufacturers claim that their overall production has dropped by 10pc annually due to sustained social media campaign against the use of aluminium in cooking utensils.
Speaking to Davis Index, Brij Mohan Agarwal, president of FAIAUM said that utensil manufacturers are suffering losses as consumers have stopped buying aluminium utensils. Agarwal has approached scientists at state-run Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research Development and Design Centre to conduct a research on use of aluminium utensils and study the various health concerns.
Federation of All India Aluminium Utensils Manufacturers (FAIAUM) aims to curb fears regarding the use of aluminium utensils with positive research findings, said Agarwal. Social media posts linking aluminium utensils with Alzheimer’s disease have discouraged people from buying aluminium utensils in the past few months. Members of the federation believe that other metal manufacturers are running these hate campaigns.
Utensil manufacturers — mainly small scale enterprises — produce 0.45mn mt utensils per annum, according to FAIAUM. Most Indian household have 4 to 5kg aluminium utensils and these utensils have been used for hundreds of years.