Jammu Retail Traders Association president Yashpal Gupta said, ``Instead of making the announcement that all other varieties except the banned ones are safe for consumption, the government should have listed the brands which were free of adulteration. It would have definitely helped us,'' he said.

Gupta said sales of refined oils have gone up by 25 per cent and 10 per cent of the consumers have switched over to desi ghee. ``But nobody has given a thought to the poor for whom loose mustard oil has been prohibited and other substitutes are not affordable. The Governmentshould find some alternative for them,'' he added.

While big hoteliers do not admit any fall in business, the medium class restaurants and dhaba owners agree that the fear is telling upon their trade. Hotel Asia General Manager (Operations) D N Chauhan said both their restaurants were fully packed for the last three days and a few days ago they had arranged a banquet for over 700 people. ``Some customers do make enquiries about the cooking medium but they get convinced when we tell that we have been using cotton-seed oil all along,'' added Chauhan.

However, Manjeet Singh of A-One Vaishno Dhaba, Jewel Chowk, said his business had suffered a lot ever since the detection of adulterated edible oil in the city. ``My customers include the locals and tourists. The business has gone down by over 50 per cent. Though I have started using vanaspati ghee and customers are convinced that it is safe to eat here, their dwindling numbers has affected my business,'' he said.

Echoing similar views, RaviMahajan, owner of Hotel International and Swagat, said over 50 per cent of consumption has been cut in the two restaurants of the hotels. ``The local customers prefer tandoori items after the scare. The guests putting up in the hotel go for biscuits, butter bun, milk and fruit. They generally avoid eating cooked items,'' he said.

K C Plaza's manager Vijay Kumar said his sales had dropped by 50 per cent during the last week. ``Even before that the sales had gone down by 15 per cent after the detection of dropsy cases in Delhi. However, after our advertisement in the local dailies that we are using only peanut oil, the business has improved by 25 per cent,'' he said.

The scare has also affected the sale of popular fried items like samosa, tikki, chole-bhature and pickles. Sewa Ram, who sells fried fish at Gummat Chowk, said there has been a significant reduction in his sales. ``I would use mustard oil as a cooking medium. But even after switching over to vanaspati, the business is yet torecover,'' he added.