Almighty Allah (SWT), while creating this world stuffed it with all its requirements including the food for all the creations which were to inhabit the planet from its creation to doom. The guarantee for food for all has been there from none other than the Creator. The food in nature, in its purest form is abundant for all creations, and barring humans, every other creature takes it in its original and purest form provided by Allah (SWT). The man is blessed with the sense of tang and taste, and hence has learnt innovative ways to make his food delectable, luscious and sumptuous.
However the insatiable human greed has takes over all the moral sensibilities and, in a wild pursuit of getting incessant material profits, humans have been indulging in adulterating, polluting and contaminating this natural bounty without the slightest remorse or concern for fellow humans’ health and life.
Food adulteration in an unpardonable act of intentionally debasing the quality of food offered for sale either by mixture or substitution of inferior substances or by the removal of some valuable ingredient.
We in Kashmir have been facing this menace not only in the food items imported, but also in the eatables made indigenously. The instances of lethal adulterations in spices, pre-prepared food articles and milk, to name a few have been quite often reported in the valley.
Recently a popular milk brand was banned for alleged adulteration with detergents which shook the whole valley. The valley has been consuming around 50000 litres of this milk daily for so many years, along with other related products like curds and cheese, etc. Imagine the myriad damage to the health of the masses this reported adulteration might have caused. Will the alleged perpetuators have some compunction?
Another recent case of food adulteration that took the country and Kashmir by storm was adulteration of a famous brand of noodles which was found to contain higher than permissible levels of lead and manganese. The adulterants are reportedly carcinogenic in nature.
Consequently, we have all become, and genuinely though, very incredulous of the purity and quality standards of the food we consume on daily basis. Adulterants in the garb of food colours, chemicals and additives often creep up not just in our local produce, but even in packaged products which flood our markets, and which we are habituated to consume as a matter of keeping along with the changing trends. Mixing milk with water to add volume, starch in cheese to make it thicker and fluffier, hydrogenated oils and vanaspati in ghee, cow dung in spices etc., are just a few examples. Stories like these often shake us up and make us vary of what we eat.
The technical definition of food adulteration according to the Food and Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is, “The addition or subtraction of any substance to or from food, so that the natural composition and quality of food substance is affected.” Food adulteration can be intentional when done to add volume, texture, taste or stability to the items in raw form or prepared form, which may result in the loss of actual quality of food item. These substances may be other available food items or non-food items. The Adulterated food is thus impure, unwholesome and unsafe for human consumption.
"Adulteration" in legal term means that a food product fails to meet standards set by the concerned authorities. Adulteration is an addition of another substance to a food item in order to increase the quantity, look and/or the taste of the food item. Generally, if a food contains a poisonous or deleterious substance that may render it injurious to health, it is considered to be adulterated.
The adulteration can also be due to carelessness or poor maintenance of the facility and logistics on part of the food manufacturer or distributor. The natural consequence of this adulteration is serious long term damage to the public health.
Data reveals that some of the most common adulterated foods are milk and milk products, flour, edible oils, cereals, condiments, pulses, coffee, tea, confectionery, baking powder, vinegar, besan and curry powder, packaged drinks, almost everything which we use as food or a part of the food on daily basis. Most of the time looking at the food won't giveaway whether it's been adulterated or not.
Contamination is generally done by mixing superfluous and extraneous material including even objectionable substances in foods, such as glass, metal, plastic, wood, stones, sand, cigarette butts, undesirable parts of the raw plant material such as stems and roots and even harmful chemical and biological substances. In Kashmir reports of adulteration of spices with cow dung has also been reported. In a lot of cases, food additives and chemicals hide behind their scientific pseudo names.
With the changing times, Kashmiris also took to the new trend of eating outside, though we carry and continue the tradition of running a full-fledged kitchen in our homes. The growing fashion of eating outside has resulted in mushroom growth of restaurants, food courts, road side eateries, fast food outlets and street food vendors etc. In most of these places, with few exceptions, food safety measures are never adhered to and maintaining hygiene is one of the least concerns. Resorting to adulteration to enhance taste and look is a routine matter. Here in Kashmir we have all the relevant food laws in place. But following or respecting a law is thought to be an insult in Kashmir and enforcing it is an opportunity for raising an extra buck.
Eating out of home is generally for fun, pleasure, partying and fashion. Earlier this was not the case with our society. People would by large have the home-made food, even carry it to their work places. The hygiene was always ensured and adulteration never a concern. This is why our earlier generation lived a much healthier life, and we would not find the clinics and hospitals overcrowded with people as is the case nowadays.
The trend of eating out of home and enormous consumption of readymade handy eatables has opened up golden opportunities for those involved in food adulteration and contamination. What is pathetic is that people despite being regularly informed through various media seem to be least bothered about the menace and their own health. Ironically they are happily ready to settle for lifelong health issues rather than avoiding the fun eating in the hotels and restaurants.
The hazards of food adulteration are compounded by the fact that most of the natural raw foods, like vegetables, pulses and even fruits are routinely grown against the natural processes. This is one of the reasons why the seasonality of vegetables and the fruits has become irrelevant. It has been reported many times that the fruits and vegetables are treated with lethal chemicals to ensure premature ripening and over sizing. The addition of newer manures and fertilizers has not only taken the health benefits off the natural edibles but has made them more injurious than beneficial.
Manufacturing and sale of adulterated food is a grave human rights and legal violation. The law has its own shortcomings, and perpetuators routinely slip through loopholes, and escape punishments. The lack of moral values and human sensibilities have unfortunately taken a back seat and have been replaced by insatiable greed to amass more and more material wealth. The people perusing such crimes are not only depriving the humanity of purity and originality of the food provided by the Nature, but also feeding them poisonous things and thus playing with their lives.
In our society, most of the people dealing with food business are our own Muslim brethren. Islam in unequivocal terms condemns the act and strongly admonishes those indulged in food adulteration.
The Holy Prophet (pbuh) said, “One who sells adulterated goods to Muslims is not from us. He will be raised with the Jews on the Day of Qiamah, because an adulterator is not a Muslim.”
On another occasion, The Revered Prophet (pbuh) said,
“One who gives us adulterated goods is not from us.”
He repeated this sentence thrice then said,
“And Allah will remove barakat from the livelihood of such Muslim. (Allah) will destroy his economy and leave him upon his own condition.”
Earning the wrath of Almighty and displeasure of beloved Prophet (SAW) for worldly gains is surly not a profitable business but an eternal loss.
However the insatiable human greed has takes over all the moral sensibilities and, in a wild pursuit of getting incessant material profits, humans have been indulging in adulterating, polluting and contaminating this natural bounty without the slightest remorse or concern for fellow humans’ health and life.
Food adulteration in an unpardonable act of intentionally debasing the quality of food offered for sale either by mixture or substitution of inferior substances or by the removal of some valuable ingredient.
We in Kashmir have been facing this menace not only in the food items imported, but also in the eatables made indigenously. The instances of lethal adulterations in spices, pre-prepared food articles and milk, to name a few have been quite often reported in the valley.
Recently a popular milk brand was banned for alleged adulteration with detergents which shook the whole valley. The valley has been consuming around 50000 litres of this milk daily for so many years, along with other related products like curds and cheese, etc. Imagine the myriad damage to the health of the masses this reported adulteration might have caused. Will the alleged perpetuators have some compunction?
Another recent case of food adulteration that took the country and Kashmir by storm was adulteration of a famous brand of noodles which was found to contain higher than permissible levels of lead and manganese. The adulterants are reportedly carcinogenic in nature.
Consequently, we have all become, and genuinely though, very incredulous of the purity and quality standards of the food we consume on daily basis. Adulterants in the garb of food colours, chemicals and additives often creep up not just in our local produce, but even in packaged products which flood our markets, and which we are habituated to consume as a matter of keeping along with the changing trends. Mixing milk with water to add volume, starch in cheese to make it thicker and fluffier, hydrogenated oils and vanaspati in ghee, cow dung in spices etc., are just a few examples. Stories like these often shake us up and make us vary of what we eat.
The technical definition of food adulteration according to the Food and Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is, “The addition or subtraction of any substance to or from food, so that the natural composition and quality of food substance is affected.” Food adulteration can be intentional when done to add volume, texture, taste or stability to the items in raw form or prepared form, which may result in the loss of actual quality of food item. These substances may be other available food items or non-food items. The Adulterated food is thus impure, unwholesome and unsafe for human consumption.
"Adulteration" in legal term means that a food product fails to meet standards set by the concerned authorities. Adulteration is an addition of another substance to a food item in order to increase the quantity, look and/or the taste of the food item. Generally, if a food contains a poisonous or deleterious substance that may render it injurious to health, it is considered to be adulterated.
The adulteration can also be due to carelessness or poor maintenance of the facility and logistics on part of the food manufacturer or distributor. The natural consequence of this adulteration is serious long term damage to the public health.
Data reveals that some of the most common adulterated foods are milk and milk products, flour, edible oils, cereals, condiments, pulses, coffee, tea, confectionery, baking powder, vinegar, besan and curry powder, packaged drinks, almost everything which we use as food or a part of the food on daily basis. Most of the time looking at the food won't giveaway whether it's been adulterated or not.
Contamination is generally done by mixing superfluous and extraneous material including even objectionable substances in foods, such as glass, metal, plastic, wood, stones, sand, cigarette butts, undesirable parts of the raw plant material such as stems and roots and even harmful chemical and biological substances. In Kashmir reports of adulteration of spices with cow dung has also been reported. In a lot of cases, food additives and chemicals hide behind their scientific pseudo names.
With the changing times, Kashmiris also took to the new trend of eating outside, though we carry and continue the tradition of running a full-fledged kitchen in our homes. The growing fashion of eating outside has resulted in mushroom growth of restaurants, food courts, road side eateries, fast food outlets and street food vendors etc. In most of these places, with few exceptions, food safety measures are never adhered to and maintaining hygiene is one of the least concerns. Resorting to adulteration to enhance taste and look is a routine matter. Here in Kashmir we have all the relevant food laws in place. But following or respecting a law is thought to be an insult in Kashmir and enforcing it is an opportunity for raising an extra buck.
Eating out of home is generally for fun, pleasure, partying and fashion. Earlier this was not the case with our society. People would by large have the home-made food, even carry it to their work places. The hygiene was always ensured and adulteration never a concern. This is why our earlier generation lived a much healthier life, and we would not find the clinics and hospitals overcrowded with people as is the case nowadays.
The trend of eating out of home and enormous consumption of readymade handy eatables has opened up golden opportunities for those involved in food adulteration and contamination. What is pathetic is that people despite being regularly informed through various media seem to be least bothered about the menace and their own health. Ironically they are happily ready to settle for lifelong health issues rather than avoiding the fun eating in the hotels and restaurants.
The hazards of food adulteration are compounded by the fact that most of the natural raw foods, like vegetables, pulses and even fruits are routinely grown against the natural processes. This is one of the reasons why the seasonality of vegetables and the fruits has become irrelevant. It has been reported many times that the fruits and vegetables are treated with lethal chemicals to ensure premature ripening and over sizing. The addition of newer manures and fertilizers has not only taken the health benefits off the natural edibles but has made them more injurious than beneficial.
Manufacturing and sale of adulterated food is a grave human rights and legal violation. The law has its own shortcomings, and perpetuators routinely slip through loopholes, and escape punishments. The lack of moral values and human sensibilities have unfortunately taken a back seat and have been replaced by insatiable greed to amass more and more material wealth. The people perusing such crimes are not only depriving the humanity of purity and originality of the food provided by the Nature, but also feeding them poisonous things and thus playing with their lives.
In our society, most of the people dealing with food business are our own Muslim brethren. Islam in unequivocal terms condemns the act and strongly admonishes those indulged in food adulteration.
The Holy Prophet (pbuh) said, “One who sells adulterated goods to Muslims is not from us. He will be raised with the Jews on the Day of Qiamah, because an adulterator is not a Muslim.”
On another occasion, The Revered Prophet (pbuh) said,
“One who gives us adulterated goods is not from us.”
He repeated this sentence thrice then said,
“And Allah will remove barakat from the livelihood of such Muslim. (Allah) will destroy his economy and leave him upon his own condition.”
Earning the wrath of Almighty and displeasure of beloved Prophet (SAW) for worldly gains is surly not a profitable business but an eternal loss.
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