Food safety norms, nutrition must be linked; Organic farming should be subsidised

Food safety norms should be linked to nutrition and likelihoods, and organic farming should be given subsidies, according to the Centre for Science and Environment’s (CSE) director general Sunita Narain. At a conference, it was suggested that food safety should come under the health ministry’s purview.

Addressing the concluding session of the conference on Food as Toxin held in New Delhi recently, Narain pointed out that food safety had changed from preventing adulteration to testing for additive and pesticide residues. She added a lot of money is being wasted on pesticides and fertilisers, which would eventually be checked by the authorities.

Keeping in mind their adverse impact on the environment, it was also recommended that pesticide regulations should either be framed by the health or environment ministry instead of the agriculture ministry, which currently regulates them. Members of the civil society should also be roped in to ensure transparency while framing policies.

Another suggestion was that toxic and obsolete pesticides be banned, and that a report on the use and effects of the use of fertilisers and pesticides should be prepared every year. State universities should be contacted to advise farmers on pesticide use, and organic farming should be promoted, both at the production and the trading level.

Policies
It was also suggested that the policies should be framed keeping in mind that most farmers in the country have small land holdings, and emphasis should be on training. Bio-monitoring should be done to check pollution, and before making an action plan, there should be comprehensive studies regarding the use of antibiotics for the growth of crops.

Labelling
Another recommendation made at the conference was that the regulations concerned with labelling should be made stricter, because the consumers are generally unable to make informed choices. It was also suggested that advertisements featuring children should be banned.

Street food
The event emphasised the need to keep in the mind consumers’ preferences and food habits while making street food a safer alternative.

The two-day conference was attended by K Chandramouli, chairman, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India; Sri Ram Khanna, managing trustee, Voluntary Organisation in the Interest of Consumer Education; Sanjay Dave, chairman, Codex Alimentarius, and Rakesh Kacker, secretary, Ministry of Food and Processing Industries, amongst others.