MUMBAI, NOV 2: It was a case of a bureaucrat tying himself into knots again. This time it was Omesh Saigal, secretary, Department of Food Processing Industries, Union Ministry of Agriculture, who was delivering the keynote address of the seminar on Radiation Processing of Food Products, which began at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), on Thursday.The issue was radiation processing of food products, a technology, which has percolated to some extent in the West, which the BARC along with the Board of Radiation & Isotope Technology, have been pioneering in India with a demonstration plant at Vashi for irradiating spices. A plant for irradiating onions and potatoes is now coming up at Lasalgaon near Nasik.Saigal's approach to the new developing technology displayed typical bureaucratic recalcitrance. For example, addressing the problem of whether irradiated food was safe, Saigal kept speaking on the assumption that the assertion of BARC scientists with regard to safety of irradiated foods is the final word.The secretary from the Union Ministry of Agriculture was speaking in the context of food processing technologies to prevent or at least reduce wastage, especially radiation processing of food products, which he called an ``attractive technology'' since it does away with the ``cold chain'' preservation process that is based on refrigeration. Irradiation of food products not only enhances shelf life without refrigeration but also enhances safety by killing food-borne pathogens and parasites, thus contributing to health care.Saigal said the certificate of the Department of Atomic Energy that irradiated food was safe was sufficient - a tall expectation, for, though 42 countries have okayed food irradiation, public acceptance has not been so forthcoming as it is trumpeted. In fact, one of the conditions of approval of irradiated foods is that they should be labelled. Food-processing industries in US have been agitating for doing away with this condition. Also, there is a sustained movement against irradiation of food projects, one of the fears being related to genetic malfunctions in the long term.Saigal's stance reflected the irony of official approaches towards food irradiation. According to a very reliable source, Dr R Chidambaram interacted with a set of foreign journalists recently at a closed-door session within the BARC premises. A Canadian scribe asked Chidambaram how he hoped to implement the programme since in Canada itself, despite approval by the government and endorsement of scientists, there were virtually no takers for irradiated food.Chidambaram reportedly replied: ``The West has good un-irradiated food. for them the choice is between good, clean natural food on one side and irradiated food on the other. For Indians, it is a choice between dirty, unhygenic food on one side and clean irradiated food on the other.''Referring to record agricultural production, Saigal talked of the ``crisis'' created by the ``problem of plenty''. For Saigal, the problem did not relate to the millions undernourished still living below the poverty line not having enough food to eat - a fact admitted by the Ninth Five Year Plan document. Saigal talked of added value in terms of external trade and profits and not in terms of addressing the basic problem of hunger.To cap the recalcitrance, Saigal saw the Essential Commodities Act and the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act as instruments impeding the fruits of globalisation reaching the farmers. His solution was to scrap the two Acts and replace them by the Food Processing Development Act which, according to him, is being accorded priority attention by the Centre.
