Spotlight
New Delhi, 18 June 2016
Hazards Of Modern
Living:
ADULTERATED FOOD
SPELLS DANGER
By Oishee Mukherjee
Modern
living standards have brought many comforts in our life but some of these are
turning to be quite dangerous. The increase in various types of pollution and
contamination is perhaps the most crucial aspect that has affected our life.
Undeniably,
a fall-out of this is that diseases have been increasing whereby some of these
are thanks to our modern lifestyles including our food habits. Add to this some
form or the other of chemical contamination has led to wanton increase in
cancer, which till two decades ago was not very well known in our society.
Indeed,
the emulation of western lifestyles by Indians has become dangerous as
circumstances in our country are much different from nations in the West.
Consequently, the high pollution levels which not only go unchecked but are allowed
to increase has not only contaminated our air, water and soil but even our food:
mainly vegetables, fruits, milk and milk products.
An
example, take our food. Shockingly, various types of unhealthy chemicals are
mixed and these go unchecked. Whereby, contaminated vegetables and fruits are
sold openly in the market as there is no system in the country of checking the
quality of products sold.
Worse,
according to an Agriculture Ministry report released in October last year,
there has been a two-fold increase in the number of samples having pesticides which
is above the maximum residue level (MRL) in vegetables, fruits, meat and spices
over the last seven years.
Scandalously,
over 56 per cent of vegetable samples had more MRL than the limit set by the
food regulator. Amongst the major culprits were green chilli, cauliflower,
brinjal, cabbage, okra, capsicum etc according to the annual report on
Monitoring of Pesticide Residues at National Level (2014-15).
This
is not all. There were also reports of milk being adulterated alongside heavy
metal content in a whole range of food items including vegetables. Sadly, the
Food & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has yet to take any action in
this regard.
Pertinently,
the recent banning of a well-known noodle product Maggie probably made history
in the country. But this was a rare instance of a popular brand being banned.
However, this momentum of checks and inspection has not been kept as food
inspectors are few in number and cannot keep pace with the requirements of the
day.
Besides,
reports reveal that street foods cause a wide spectrum of illness which is caused
by pathogenic, bacterial, viral, protozoan and chemical contamination of food.
These include bacterial pathogens which are bacillus cereus (causing vomiting
and diarrhea), perfringens (abdominal cramps and diarrhea), staphylococcus
aureus (vomiting, loss of appetite, abdominal cramps and fever) and salmonella
species (typhoid, food poisoning and inflammation in the gastrointestinal
tract).
Take
biryani, a favourite food all over
the country. Notably, the rice’s yellow colour should come from kesar which costs Rs 200 a gram.
Instead, the flavoured rice gets its yellow colour from metanil yellow, an
industrial dye and a known carcinogen, whose cost a mere Rs 4-5 a packet!
Many
surveys reveal that barring leading shops most use metanil yellow in their biryani. Never mind, that metanil wrecks
the digestive system, affects the kidneys and damages brain tissues. It also
impedes the functioning of the central nervous system. As a result, most of the
biryani that is available on the
streets of big towns and metros leads to indigestion.
Notably,
apart from biryani, there are
low-priced ice-creams and various other cooked items sold on the street whose
consumption is injurious to human health. But these are never checked and the
sale goes on unabated. Children from the economically weaker sections and low
income groups who buy these items are the worst sufferers.
Further,
it is not only low quality food which is the cause of contamination. Energy
drinks being sold in India
– and advertised in the media – have dangerous levels of caffeine, according to
a Delhi NGO, Centre for Science & Environment (CSE).
Think.
The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act allows a limit of 145 parts per million
(ppm) of caffeine in carbonated beverages but energy drink manufacturers want a
ppm cap. And the country’s food regulatory body seems to do nothing in this
regard.
In
fact, the CSE noted that as per an amendment of Rule 37A (2) of Food
Adulteration Act, 1954, ‘energy’ drinks were to follow the caffeine cap of
145 ppm, as is applicable to carbonated beverages.
This
apart, more appalling is that the most important contaminant in human life is
water. Due to large-scale pollution, water is contaminated mainly in the rural
and semi-urban areas where the people have to depend on ponds, tubewells and
dugwells for drinking water.
More.
The contamination of groundwater has added to the problem wherein excessive use
has reduced the water levels and increased contamination. As a result, water
borne diseases have increased at a very fast pace and this is primarily due to
the contaminated water people are forced to drink.
Apart
from food, let us turn to cosmetics. Not long back, the Consumer Education
& Research Society (CERS) Ahmadabad
revealed that many popular lipstick brands have a high lead content. Some
interesting findings were that ‘luscious reds’ were less poisonous than the ‘sober
browns’ and the lesser priced lipsticks had less lead content than the premium
brands.
Well-known
and costly brands such as Lakme and L’Oreal contained lead content much more
than the permissible limit by the Bureau of Indian Standards. Though the CERS
had suggested to BSI to lower the limit of permissible lead and also to make it
mandatory to display the ingredients used, no action has yet been taken in this
regard.
Meanwhile
the World Health Organization (WHO) had issued a warning way back in mid-2012 against
skin lightening soaps, creams and cosmetics such as eye make-up, cleansing
products and mascara. The warning is serious especially for Indians as WHO
revealed that 61 per cent of the dermatological market here consisted of skin
lightening products.
Clearly,
the adverse effects of inorganic mercury which is a common ingredient found in
lightening soaps and creams, includes kidney damage, reduction in the skin’s
resistance to bacterial and fungal infections, anxiety, depression and also
peripheral neuropathy.
The
use of these products is common in Africa and Asia
especially among the young generation. In recent years the use of these skin
creams has increased considerably, which is hazardous to human skin.
Thus,
it is time for the Government to take action against adulterators, which
include well-known brands, as the toxicity has grave implications for human
health and increases the risk of diseases, including cancer. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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