Widespread food adulteration

Widespread food adulteration

FPJ BureauUpdated: Saturday, June 01, 2019, 01:16 AM IST
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The on-going controversy regarding the alleged presence of excessive quantities of lead and monosodium glutamate in the popular instant food, Maggi, only reflects the overall lack of standards in food products in the country. There is a heightened concern in the case of Maggi because it is the favourite food of young children. But adulteration of one or the other kind in foodstuffs is a common phenomenon in India. And not just in packaged foods but also in raw, uncooked grains and other edible materials. That Maggi brand is owned by the well-known Swiss company, Nestle, is neither here nor there. It is, after all, produced on contract/commission by various private parties all over the country. But western multinationals in all sectors are known not to be as punctilious in ensuring first-rate quality controls in their products in the third world countries as they generally are in the developing countries. Not long ago, there were complaints about an internationally popular brand of cola being contaminated with pesticides. Even if the ground water from where the cola company sourced its water was heavily spiked with chemical pesticides, the fault lay with it. It was expected to fully filter the water for removing all impurities before bottling its popular drink. But the hue and cry over the contaminated cola soon died down. As, we are sure, would the current public fuss over the bad-for-health Maggi noodles. In the immediate course, the brand might have taken a huge beating, with sales falling more than thirty percent, but with the lapse of time it would be back to normal. If, however, the controversy makes the manufacturers more mindful of quality controls, leads to a tighter vigil on what goes into its making, it would have served its purpose. As we said, we are not certain whether the huge fuss over pesticides in a popular cola resulted in long-term safeguards against such contamination. That can be found out only if the concerned drink is again put through rigorous tests by a well-equipped food laboratory. Unfortunately, given the huge population and the vast geographic spread of the country, there seems to be a woeful lack of modern food testing facilities. It is quite possible for manufacturers of questionable  foodstuffs  to challenge the findings of the laboratories, such as they are, because these lack both fully qualified personnel and the latest technological tools. Also, the regulatory authority, in this case, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, is woefully ill-equipped to undertake a constant watch over a huge number of food products. The truth is that Maggi is a tiny part of the problem of contaminated food that Indians routinely consume everyday. Chances of loose food, raw or cooked, sold daily in the bazaars and lanes of the country is likely to be far more contaminated than the excessive percentage of MSG in Maggi noodles. Unscrupulous traders are known to mix foreign matter in milk, dals, masalas, cooked foods, etc. And everyone knows it but nothing can be done for the simple reason that the task is beyond the capabilities of the FSSAI. Eventually, an improvement in the national character, fear of an honest and powerful regulator, resistance from an aware public and a change in the environment in which we grow, store and sell food and food products would have a salutary effect in improving what we eat and drink as a nation.

Meanwhile, we cannot understand why celebrities who had endorsed Maggi for money ought to be dragged into the controversy. They cannot be, in all fairness, penalized for the allegedly contaminated stuff. It was not for these celebrities to ensure the quality of the product they endorsed. That task was best left to the manufacturers and, in case of default, for the state governments to penalize. Punishing celebrities for endorsing such products is akin to finding fault with politicians who are often photographed, especially during elections, with all manner of dubious people because they are in search of votes and even dubious people claim to have influence over voters. In both cases, action should be taken against the wrong-doer, not those who might be only peripherally associated with them.  If the Maggi incident increases awareness among the consumers as well as the manufacturers of packaged foods and makes the regulatory authorities more alert it would have served some purpose. Otherwise, the noise would soon die down and it would be back to the same old adulterated times as before.

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