India's consumer-driven economy has unleashed a large number of brands in the country. These brands meet top quality standards and requirements that are laid out by national food regulator, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). Normally, such brands carry a higher price as they have to deliver on multiple benchmarks. However, this has also provided an opportunity for many unscrupulous players to either produce cheap products or indulge in counterfeiting. Such is the greed for money that those indulging in food adulteration knowingly refuse to see its unabashed disregard for human life. What makes this problem even more complicated is the fact that there are a host of cheap, easily available and life-threatening options at the disposal of the adulterators that frankly it's difficult to pinpoint the most effective strategy in this situation. It’s indeed a hydra-headed monster that we are dealing with.
Economically, adulteration cuts production costs and boosts profit margins, but from the health and safety perspective, it plays a deadly game with all those it comes in contact with. The travesty of justice is evident from the fact that no matter what the health damage, people literally go scot free under the present law. While there is a provision for life imprisonment for adulteration, the police don't have the power to invoke the FSSAI act; this can only be invoked by the food safety authorities in the States. The net result is that most cases receive a maximum imprisonment of six months or a fine of `1000. The FSSAI, which is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through regulation and supervision of food safety has collected a total of 84,537 adulterated food samples from all States in 2014-15, 77,941 in 2015-16 and 80,463 in 2016-17. However, the convictions stood at only 1,402 in 2014-15, 540 in 2015-16 and 1,591 in 2016-17. To my mind, this rate has to simply skyrocket in times ahead and this could be a vital part in dealing with the complex maze of adulteration.
Commonly adulterated items in India include milk, pulses, rice, local sweets, vegetable oils and ghee, honey, liquor, medicine and so on. According to the National Survey on Milk Adulteration 2011, in States like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Mizoram, adulteration of milk was up to a 100 per cent with the national average at 68.4 per cent. The adulterants of choice were found to be urea and detergent.
Pulses are consumed by a large number of people. This makes profit easy to come by and adulterants like asbestos (polishing), metanil yellow (colour) and soluble coal tar (shine) are added. These are all carcinogenic and compromise consumers’ health. Rice, which is a staple food in India, has become a favourite with the adulterators, who till recently, were adding marble chips, mixing sand, chalk and brick powder, and have also started a synthetic replication of rice called ‘plastic rice'. Experts warn that this form raises the risk of cancer by 15-20 per cent and damages the digestive and reproductive system.
Local sweets are a rage in all parts of the country. However, sulphur dioxide in excessive amounts, starch, aluminium and more are added to save cost and enhance the visual appeal. These can cause severe allergies and in worst cases, fatality.Vegetables oils and ghee are necessities that are exploited by the adulterators. In mustard oil, argemone seeds and papaya seeds, which are used to add bulk and weight, can cause epidemic dropsy and severe glaucoma. People have lost their eyesight by consuming sub-standard edible oil. The young, old and those with immunity issues are particularly vulnerable.
Recently, an article in a newspaper in the month of April, 2018, carried a report about a fake ghee factory that was busted in Uttar Pradesh. It contained packets of prominent dairy brands like Amul, Paras, Sanskar and Madhav. It was found that they were using a combination of dalda (vegetable ghee), refined oil and essences to make desi ghee. Officials say that this combination was like poison and played havoc with the lives of the people.These were sold at a cheaper price and nexus with local wholesale traders ensured its penetration in the markets.
Honey, which is known for its overall health benefits is being denatured with the addition of corn syrup, which is imported from China and invert sugar which is locally available. The net result of all this, according to the experts, is that 85 per cent of the honey sold in India, is adulterated. I have limited my scope to the very basic and essential items sold across the length and breadth of our country. The situation is no better in spices, ice creams, liquor, medicines and bottled water.
Last year, understanding the gravity of the situation, the law commission had recommended a set of stringent measures.It recommended that sections 272 and 273 of the Indian Penal Code be amended to make adulteration a serious crime. The commission also recommended increasing the fine on adulterators from `1000 to `10 lakh and increasing jail time from six months to imprisonment till death.To their credit, States like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Odisha have already implemented the second point. However, a lot more needs to be done and more States have to follow suit if we are to effectively tackle the menace of food adulteration.
The Government needs to intensify its efforts in creating large scale awareness campaigns that educate the consumers about the ill-effects of buying counterfeit products and the consumers on their part need to be aware that a small saving that is made by purchasing counterfeits can have life-threatening results. The need of the hour is to set up systems for regularly monitoring through a large number of accredited laboratories across the country. These will check, verify and satisfy that the products available in the marketplace are meeting the quality and safety standards and that they are indeed genuine. Such a mechanism should be on a fast track basis so that examples are made out of such unscrupulous elements and they never muster the courage to break the law again.
(The writer is Chairman, FICCI-CASCADE and Sr. Vice President, ITC Ltd )
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