Adulteration becomes all-pervasive

Holstein-Friesian breed cows are seen inside the rotary at the Bhagyalaxmi Dairy Farm of Pune on January 12, 2012. (Picture for illustrative purpose only). 

 

We woke up in the New Year of 2012 to the hard reality that the milk we were drinking was not fit for human consumption. The year witnessed adulteration at its peak, be it of milk or other essential foodstuffs that we believe are nutritious and healthy.
On January 2, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) released the National Survey on Milk Adulteration. Milk samples from all over the country — both loose and packed — were analysed for adulterants and 68.4 per cent of the samples collected failed the quality standards fixed by the FSSAI. In other words, they were adulterated and unfit for human or animal use.
All the samples collected from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Daman and Diu, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal and Mizoram failed the quality test. Even Gujarat, known for its milk revolution, had 89 per cent of samples not conforming to the standards. The only solace came from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu where just 6.7 and 12 per cent of the samples were found adulterated.
Milk adulteration is just the tip of iceberg. Adulteration now encompasses everything — from the mirchi we use in the kitchen to the coconut oil we apply on our heads.
Equally serious is the menace of spurious and inferior quality medicines marketed by some pharmaceutical companies.
Drugs banned in other countries are sold here and are approved by Drug Controllers. It is only after much public protests and representations that the manufacturers are told to stop importing such drugs.
The recent legislations on food adulterations has replaced the earlier Prevention of Food Adulteration Act of British times. It is a welcome legislation. It has taken into account the change in environment in the marketing of food products. However, what matters is the implementation of the new Act.

Dinamalar