William James had once said, “A chain is no stronger than its weakest link, and life is after all a chain.” This phrase best describes the food safety scenario in India. Post independence, rapid growth and the consequent scramble for scarce resources revived the Malthusian catastrophe, which represents poor agricultural production in times of tipping population growth. India today produces about 280 million tonnes (MT) of foodgrains, 175MT of milk while our horticultural output stands at around 320MT. India remains the second largest producer of rice in the world but is heavily dependent on oil imports. We are slowly shifting from a quantitative approach to qualitative considerations about what we eat. And this is where a farm-to-table approach becomes significant to understand the food safety circle. For example, what is the nutritive value of milk? One could just Google the answer and be satisfied with emerging tables. But going deeper, one would understand that the quality of milk depends on a number of factors like the breed of cow, quality of cattle feed, kind of urea that was used in the feed, whether antibiotics were given in their feed or whether oxytocin was used for milk let-down. These should actually turn the table.
The mere nutritive value of calorie, protein, fat or carbohydrates cannot satisfy questions related to health. Antibiotic and hormonal residues, mycotoxins, heavy metals and the like can mar the nutritive value — it is like highly nutritious food with traces of pesticides. Studies by the Centre for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy showed that India is fast becoming a hotbed for antibiotic resistance and emergence of superbugs due to the use of fourth generation antibiotics in animal and poultry feeding. A majority of antibiotics used by the pharmaceutical companies is actually used by growth promoters in animal feed. Any pathogen exposed to antibiotics in the environment will develop resistance. When they fall sick, the same antibiotics administered will not work. Today about four lakh people in India die due to tuberculosis, mainly drug resistance.
Of the 232 pesticides our country uses, nearly 52 have not been studied for their maximum residue limit. Food safety concerns are not simplistic like adulterating milk with water, cheaper dalda for ghee, papaya seeds for pepper, as was the case earlier. Hi-tech adulteration like the use of melamine to boost protein went undetected even in the US for a long time. New tools and techniques had to be evolved to detect the adulterant. In the same way, there are genetically modified organisms creeping into our food system through imports and illegal seeds. We would rarely be able to detect them given the current situation. In food processing, safety is given a go-by due to excessive handling, removal of nutrients, usage of food additives that can actually erode nutrient value. At present, the list of food additives is unending. Refined sugar and salt being added in excess in all processed food are the source of addiction to certain flavours and choices. Refined nutrients are today killing more people than toxic residues.
Ecological sensitivity, sustainability and food safety will be the trends as millennials look for better health and wellness. Consumers are now looking for sustainable solutions. Ethics is always contextual. For instance, being vegetarian or vegan can be ethical for some and extremely ethical for animal activists. But this isn’t universal. What is sauce for the goose should also be sauce for the gander. Ethical food has to be acceptable to all and the universal has to basically focus on reducing the ecological footprint. This calls for humane handling of animals in farming and even at slaughter houses.
The loss of biodiversity is the biggest bane for agriculture. Above all, access to food and equity in nutrition security is the fundamental ethical aspect of society. As for food companies, ethics about profit can simply be as a producer of foods that do not make people unhealthy, sick and obese. In this context, organic food has seen a great deal of growth in the past decade. More and more people are opting for organic foods because of its true form and content. People are asking for minimally processed diverse varieties rather than the routine run-of-the- mill foods that come even under the organic label. Conscious consumers are today raising questions, thanks to public opinion, created through debate and discussions in the media and consumer forums. Ecological sensitivity, increased disease burden and abundant health information are driving people to make better choices. Apart from enjoying food, they are making sure that they do not compromise on health. Good food can indeed prevent most of the ills that society confronts today and can pave the way for a healthy and happy life.
(The writer is founder and MD of a leading food manufacturing company)
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