Recently, the issue of wide spread adulteration in food products has gained spotlight once again in India, after the news of food regulations violations in Nestle’s Maggi noodles gained notice. It is important for the public to recognise, as they surely do, that this is not an isolated case, and that this is only symptomatic of large scale adulteration that plagues the whole market of food products. To say that we have a lack of regulations in place would be incorrect, for the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India does prescribe an elaborate number of regulations that all food products must adhere too. However, despite this, rampant flagrance of such regulations constantly occurs. The case of the Maggi noodles caught the public eye, quiet fittingly so, for it is after all a very powerful brand and impacts a large number of consumers.
However, it is important also to note that even if Maggi was not declared “unsafe” for consumption by the FSSAI, it would still be junk food, and would never qualify as a healthy food product. Even without having violated regulations, Maggi was never a nutritious intake for people. Thus, when focusing on the problem of adulteration in the country, one realises that the enemy lay much closer to home. This is because while it is comparatively easier for authorities like FSSAI to levy checks and regulations on packaged food products, unpackaged products that sell in the markets, if adulterated, often escape notice. And in a country where the majority of the population is rural, it is crucial to note that most of daily food items consumed by Indian households are sold unpackaged. Vegetables with false coloring on them and whitened, adulterated milk are being constantly consumed by the people, making us perhaps victims of health complications we are often not even aware of on an everyday basis.
With regard to this, it is very significant and at the same time extremely worrying that water, milk and oil (which are consumed by almost every single household daily, it is safe to generalise) are three of the most adulterated food products in the country. In 2012-13, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India conducted a survey, where in it deduced that milk was by far the most adulterated food item in the whole country. It showed the shocking statistics of a whopping 68.4% nation-wide milk adulteration.
Milk adulteration is an issue that has a deeper, much more lasting impact, because its effects are insidious. The same report by FSSAI, referred to above, also pointed out that the main adulterants, apart from water, are generally chalk, paint and chemical whiteners. Milk is a regular part of the Indian diet and a chief source of protein for us even more because a large section of the country is vegetarian.
It is understandable that it is much harder to regulate milk adulteration because it is often sold unpackaged, but that does not absolve the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India of its responsibilities. And while it does do substantial work to regulate, loopholes remain and hence it is imperative that the FSSAI sets up a body to conduct nation-wide checks on milk adulteration particularly, and ensure regular testing of unpacked food items like milk.
With regard to this, it is relevant that the Supreme Court of India had, as back as in November 2014, directed the Centre to legislate so as to amend the Food Safety and Standards Act, in order to increase the maximum penalty possible if found guilty of milk adulteration to a life sentence, from the current penalty, which is a maximum of six months. While some may argue that a life sentence is too harsh a penalty for milk adulteration, it is without doubt true that the current penal provisions have completely failed to act as deterrent, and an amendment in the law, as per the Supreme Court’s directions, seems a necessary precaution.
It is worth noting that while the Centre has not yet introduced or enacted any such amendment, states of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Odisha have already legislated in this direction.Not only should other states follow in the same direction and legislate for this, but the Centre should also do what is due, and bring forth amendments to the existing laws. As a concluding thought, it would be effective to view this problem of milk adulteration within the context of the fact that approximately 70% of health related deaths in India are from food and water borne diseases. To curb this menace, and for a healthier society, we must ensure that a necessity like milk is always a positive source of nutrition and not a dangerous substance harming us instead.
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