Newspapers are for reading, but not for tea stalls in the city which have devised a new use of them. Along with the fried items comes a newspaper piece to remove the extra oil.

The customer has to wrap the food item in the paper and then give a small press. All the extra oil is absorbed by the paper. But little do people realise that the ink on the printed matter is not for consumption.

An Aavin tea stall near Mettupalayam Road sells its savories thus. Asked why it was done so, owner K.Suresh told The Covai Post, “Newspapers come cheap unlike tissue paper which is not affordable. In case they are made available at lower rates, we can consider providing them along with food items.”

Dr J.Dhanasekar says, “The continuous eating of savories by making newspaper absorb the oil can cause problems in pancreas, skin allergies, urinary infection and can even lead to cancer. There will be problems in the digestive system because of ink goes in.”

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India have already passed a rule on the ban of wrapping food items in newspapers. As per the Food Safety and Standard Act, action will be taken if the rule is violated. Yet, the wrapping of savories in newspapers continues.