The Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) will inspect tea samples at auctions in a bid to prevent exports of adulterated tea, Plantation Industries Minister Navin Dissanayake said.
He explained that a small amount of sugar is naturally formed during the processing of tea. However, action would be taken against any company whose tea exceeds the permitted limit, the Minister noted.
Dissanayake stressed that tea factories which are found guilty of adulterating tea by adding extra sugar, will be sealed off for three months. Appeals by the owners of these factories to revoke the ban too would not be considered, he warned.
At present, 13 companies have been sealed after they were found to have sold adulterated tea.
Tea commissioners will carry out these inspections using special machines which would be used to detect additional amounts of sugar in a sample.
(Reporting by Damith Wickramasekara)
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