In a crackdown on adulterated food items, the food safety department has banned 74 brands of coconut oil in Kerala. The Commissioner of Food Safety, Anand Singh, issued the ban after collected samples showed sub-standard quality. The department had banned 45 brands of coconut oil in May and 51 brands in June. With the new batch of 74 brands, the total tally of banned coconut oil brands will shoot up to 170.

Officials said that the brands were banned for using sub-standard oils such as palm oil, as mentioned in a report in The Times of India. The report mentions that nearly half of the banned brands have used the name of Kera, a product which is owned by government's KeraFed.

An official said that by adding the name of Kera, the brands were trying to make buyers believe that they were buying the original Kera.

The report mentions that several companies owned more than one brand implying that the companies tried to escape ban by using various licenses and marketing them under different names. Additionally, food safety officers found that some brands which were prohibited in one district were found to be selling in other districts.

Some of the banned brands are Kera Grace Double Filtered Coconut Oil, StS Kera Premium Gold coconut Oil, Keralathinte Swantham Velichenna Nalikera Pure Coconut Oil, Kera Hira Coconut Oil, StS Kera 3in1, Brilliant Grade One Agmark Coconut Oil, StS Parimritham, Golden Drops Coconut Oil, KKD Parisudham sudhamaya velichenna, Kera Swadish 100 percent pure and natural coconut oil, KS Kerasugandhi Pure coconut Oil, Kera Proudy coconut oil, Kera Priyam coconut Oil, Kairali Drops Live Healthy and Wise Pure Coconut Oil, Kerala Cook Coconut Oil, Kitchen Tasty Coconut Oil, Kera Sulabha Coconut Oil, Kera Farm coconut oil, Kera flow coconut oil, Kalpa Keralam coconut oil and many more.