Death by a thousand cuts was once a painful and slow way of executing a criminal in China. Now we have the same punishment here in the form of adulterated foods. Food adulteration in Kashmir has reached alarming proportions. Indeed, we pay a heavy price for the things which deteriorate our health and drain our money. Just few weeks ago, the Union Minister for Science and Technology told Lok Sabah that two out of three Indians drink milk laced with detergent, caustic soda, urea and paint. Recently, the reports of cancer in Kashmir, where the number of cancer patients registered at the Regional Cancer Centre SKIMS has increased more than twice since 2007, sounds a death alarm in the Valley. Most experts believe that food adulteration is a major cause behind the increasing prevalence of cancer. It was a great relief to the people here when honorable High Court of the state took suo motto cognizance of these reports and treated the matter under PIL. Despite all this, the public in general have to be careful about the curse of food adulteration.
Food safety and regulation is nonexistent in Kashmir. Nobody knows what goes into our foods and nobody can give us any guarantee for its purity. People in general don’t know anything about adulterated or unadulterated foods. We have no knowledge whether the biscuits our children eat, are safe for them or not. Milk is the single most essential item of our diet. Our children and infants need plenty of milk during their growing stages. When we insist the vendors for providing pure milk, we have to fix higher rates for it. The Indian dailies regularly report about the contaminants like urea, glucose, caustic soda, formalin and other chemicals being used in the milk to increase its thickness, viscosity and making it more attractive. What will happen to a diabetic if there is glucose in the milk and what will happen to a hypertensive when there are traces of urea in the milk? Laboratory testing is usually done for fat content and it doesn’t guarantee that the milk is pure. Many experts believe that, while the big companies do try to check the adulteration, there are so many things which can be put in the milk that one needs a huge lab to check for everything.
Once upon a time, we used to have slaughter houses in the cities and towns. Today we don’t know anything about the meat we are eating. We just believe butchers. Few decades back, we used to have homegrown free-range (desi) chicken, organic wheat chapattis, pesticide-free fresh vegetables, salad and fruit from one’s own kitchen garden. Today we have genetically modified chickens, the broiler and another breed which lays eggs in plenty. They are grown in lesser time and have very high egg laying ability. These chickens live their short lives in great misery in cages and there are reports about their being injected with antibiotics and growth hormones. We don’t have any knowledge about edible oil, tea, spices, ghee etc of being pure. We used to obtain pure oil from Mustard/rapeseed and even when the oil which came from outside was pure. Now there are reports that oil is being adulterated with Argemone and Trycresyn Phosphate which are extremely hazardous for our brain. We have no knowledge of colors and dyes used for the processing of foods. The sellers show us packaging of food stuff. Should we believe it?
The doctors tell us, that the easiest and least-expensive way to reduce the risk of some terminal illness is to eat a healthy diet which should predominantly consist of plant-based products. They tell us to take vegetables, salads and fruits in plenty. But do we grow these products in a pure soil without fake fertilizers, in a pesticide-free atmosphere. We have no knowledge. However, we have reports of using spurious fertilizers/chemicals, the heavy use of pesticides and we are trying to induce genetically modified organism in the natural system for more yields. We have already the reports of artificially ripening of fruits with chemicals like calcium carbide, to give fruits a robust look. Recently, the experts have attributed the high incidence of GI tract malignancies to heavy metal contaminations in soil, water, vegetables, fruits etc. The best way to ensure ones food unadulterated would be to grow it yourself in an organic farm with natural manures, but most of us don’t have the facility of kitchen gardens, farms and we are solely dependent on the market.
The curse of adulteration thrives only when society accepts it as a part of normal activity. It is sad that such grave issues are identified only when some bad news gets suddenly highlighted in the media. Nevertheless, it is the job of the Govt to ensure the safety and wellbeing of its citizens at all times. It is extremely important for the Govt to see that all our food items meet all the standards and specifications of purity. Then as citizens we have a right to know about the food stuff and its authenticity of being pure. There is a great dissatisfaction among the general public regarding the grievance redressed mechanism. Most people don’t want to approach the law enforcing agencies, for the fear that accused generally gets scot-free while the complainant suffers disgrace. People also hesitate to go to consumer courts because they don’t want to be drawn along with the case. So there appears to be no motivation for a common man to be really concerned about adulteration.
We need to have enforcement of stringent laws and deterrent punishments with easy methods of booking the culprits. The Govt should procure the latest gadgets and establish a big laboratory in the city with every facility to check all kinds of adulterations in our food stuff. A massive public awareness campaign should be launched to educate the masses about the harmful effects of the adulteration. People should be taught the use of laboratory kits and basic tests of adulteration. We should encourage farmers towards organic farming and free-ranging of poultry units. Govt must tighten the screws of the in-charge Deptts of our food commodities and enable them with all kinds of infrastructure and manpower. At a time, when Kashmir has already become a hub for the consumption of huge fake as well as genuine drugs, we need to reverse our tendencies. Our resistance could be the best way to stop the poisoning. We need a healthy society for future and not the one where everyone will have health issues. Our health is our wealth and nobody has any right to snatch us from the joys of our life.
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