Sub-Standard Mechanisms

The decision of High Court directing the three companies involved in the manufacture and supply of adulterated food items is a novel one. The incidents of food being adulterated, sub-standard or even dangerous are not new. As elaborated by SMC, about four samples are picked up from market everyday

and sent for testing.

Every household in the state has a personal experience of ending up buying what appears not to be what they wanted. As per an India-wide milk sample survey 70 percent of milk was found adulterated with a range of adulterants like detergent, caustic soda and even paint.

While the apex court in India has favoured adulteration of milk with life imprisonment, we in the state seem to be sleeping with adulterated food in our stomachs. It is shocking that no steps are being taken to establish a

Food Safety and Testing Laboratory in the state.

The High Court had directed government to create the ‘paraphernalia’ for making the provisions of the Food Safety and Standard Act 2006 “effective and visible on the ground” a long back. But in spite of that, we are dependent on testing infrastructure located thousands of kilometres away.

Last year, the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India had announced setting up of 125 food testing labs in India. Apart from these proposed labs, there are more than 70 food testing labs in the country, but alas, none in the state. It would have been a well-timed step if along with the Rs 60 crore drug-testing lab proposal sent for approval to Union Health Ministry, a similar proposal for food testing lab was also forwarded.

But, testing and test results of drugs and foods seem to be highly complicated and sophisticated matters, with common man having no access to them. With Jammu and Kashmir on the path of putting together all the machinery and manpower to create products that can compete for shelf space all over the world, such reports of adulterations have serious implications.

The local market, as well as the one in the view is fast slipping out of hand and big names, not local, are throwing the locally produced brands off the shelves once more. In this scenario, the government needs to be proactive and think out-of-the-box. The misgivings against the adulterations need to be replaced with

information and truth. What and how are the products identified for testing?

Are the products in news the only adulterated products in market? What happens when the authorities seize sub-standard food items and destroy them? Why are culprits not punished then? Is there a way to ensure that the consumer can trust a product? Stray reports, stray tests and stray actions are not an answer.

A mechanism and infrastructure needs to be put in place.