The food (poison) we eat
We all consume food to survive. In today’s world when everyone is hard pressed for time we have taken an easy route to get the food we consume by visiting food outlets or eateries so that we get the things of our choice and that too at our convenience.
However, while doing so we fail to ignore the rising trend of food adulteration. Food adulteration is not a new phenomenon in the Valley. Medical experts have been pointing to the fact that food adulteration is witnessing a phenomenal rise, which has led to a rise in patients with gastric problems and many other fatal diseases in Kashmir. But the Government has time and again failed to check the standards of food products in the Valley.
Surprisingly, in its first ever country-wide survey on milk adulteration conducted in year 2011, the Food Safety Standards Authority of India found that of the total 1,791 samples tested throughout the country, including Jammu and Kashmir, at least over 68 per cent i.e. 1,226 samples were either diluted with water or mixed with harmful detergents.
The survey though considered to be old now said that 83 percent of milk produced and consumed In Jammu and Kashmir is contaminated. Despite a government agency confirming the adulteration at such a massive scale, surprisingly, the topic met with a tepid response from state government.
Experts had warned that the consumption of contaminated milk across the state could lead to multiple gastroenteritis problems, food poisoning, endocrinology and several other chronic diseases.
What has worsened the situation is that the ban on some extremely harmful chemical like Oxytocin has been lifted by the government this year which too has added to the woes of the common man. Oxytocin is a synthetic hormone which cow breeders use frequently to increase the milk output in cows. But the use of this synthetic harmone is detrimental to the health of human and especially the kids.
Another aspect of the food adulteration is the overuse and over dependence on food that we tend to consume in various eateries and other food outlets. The use of colouring and synthetic chemicals is playing havoc with our lives with no system in place to check or even control the use of these synthetic chemicals.
Food adulteration is a menace, which all of us face regularly. Detection of adulteration in food is an essential requirement for ensuring safety of foods we consume. Although sophisticated lab techniques are accurate, precise, and reliable, yet they are costly and time consuming.
What is more worrying is that the state of Jammu and Kashmir is the least equipped state to counter such menace. The food safety department is yet to be reorganized so that the hierarchy of the officials is sorted out and they could have started to work to tackle the menace of food adulteration.
The governments’ non-seriousness on this issue can be gauged by the fact that the fiancé department is not taking a call on reorganization of the department. The department’s food testing labs and other equipments are gathering dust as no fresh recruitment is taking place and no technical guidance is available with the department to tackle the menace.
Even the J&K High Court has directed the government to furnish details of the existing staff strength and number of posts lying vacant in the food safety department (FSD).
KV Network
