Strict quality control must to avoid more food disasters

Forty seven died and over 1,400 were taken ill in the national capital after taking adulterated mustard oil in the last two weeks, casting serious doubts over the quality control mechanism in the country. “There is need to take a fresh look at the whole criminal jurisprudence. Traders and manufacturers who sell such adulterated products must realise the gravity of their crime,” says H D Shourie of `Common Cause’.

The consumer groups working for the cause of people should see thatculprits do not go scot free, he says. “The present incident has shown the total failure of the quality control measures in our system. And unless there is pressure from the public to keep a check on quality, adulteration cannot be checked,” says Meera Shiva, director, public policy division, Voluntary Health Association of India.

However, consumers have a little say in what they are going to eat or use. Recycled engine oil, tins, syringes, adulterated eatables — are all they get in the profit-driven market economy, she says.

“Adulteration in mustard oil rocked Calcutta some ten years back. But the government failed to take any concrete measures to check the adulteration menace,” say officials of Voice, a consumer forum, adding, “Had any steps been taken, the present tragedy of dropsy could be avoided.”

“As the law is weak, enforcement is zero and we do not have any central testing facilities, adulteration has become a way of life,” says Iqbal Malik, director Vatavaran, an NGO, citing cases ofadulteration in petrol, pulses, vegetables, cosmetics and toiletries.

There have been earlier instances of adulteration of petrol, kesari dal, sweets, vegetables being coloured with melathion chemical to give them bright green colour, chalk powder being added to talcum, which if applied in excess can even choke a child to death, Malik says.

“Mustard oil has always been adulterated with argemone seeds. But the amount was not so high and neither was it being done by known brands,” she says adding, “It is when demand-supply gap rises that adulteration reaches beyond dangerous levels and epidemics occur.”

Consumer activists say no unbranded products should be allowed to be sold in the market and the offenders strictly punished.

“Recent incidents of dropsy show a total breakdown of government machinery which is supposed to protect the health of the people, says Bijon Mishra, adviser to the Consumer Coordination Council.

“Such incidents have occurred several times in the past, but successivegovernments have failed to take any preventive measures,” Mishra says adding, “This has proved that consumer’s life has no value in the country.”

Demanding a more stringent act, voice officials say heavy fines should be imposed on manufacturers and traders to make such activity unprofitable.But officials of PFA department say “the absence of a licensing policy for foodstuffs and authority to prosecute the offenders has resulted in adulteration on such a scale”.

The PFA Act, 1954, prescribes quality standards for various food products, but food inspectors say the absence of any powers to them under the act renders it ineffective.

“Once a sample is found adulterated, we move the designated court, which in turn directs the Central food laboratory to take fresh sample and starts prosecution only on the basis of that report.

“The manufacturer or the retailer gets enough time in between to replace the adulterated lot and thus goes scot free, many times,” senior PFA officials say, calling for anamendment in this regard and the court relying on their report.

The food inspectors can collect the sample, seize any article and even inspect the plant. “But we do not have any powers to prosecute or even arrest the culprits,” they say.

The officials say the absence of any licensing provision for food products has further resulted in sudden increase in adulteration cases. “No policy decision has been taken at state or department levels to issue licence to food traders,” they say.

“With just 36 food inspectors it is impossible to check all the food stocks in the capital,” a food inspector says advocating check posts at the state border itself for checking the samples. “Mustard oil is first case of large scale adulteration… Milk could be the next casualty.”

But official reports cite inefficiency on the part of PFA officials for rise in adulteration cases. A media report quoting the latest audit report of PFA said, “Collection of food samples over last four years has decreased whileadulteration cases shot up.”

Maintain own testing kits: experts

“Testing is the only remedy for adulteration which includes mixing, substitution, misrepresenting quantity, using false labels and adding toxic substances, according to a paper released by the IJCP Academy of Continuing Medicine today.

Adding starch to milk products like khoya, chhana, paneer, ghee, and butter and adulteration of powdered spices and coffee is very common, the IJCP paper said. But there are tests which can quickly reveal the adulteration.

Starch can be detected by adding iodine solution to a bottled sample of food. If a blue colour appears, its presence is confirmed. Starch can cause diarrhoea and abdominal discomfort besides being of little food value.

Argemone oil readily forms precipitate when treated with nitricacid whereas mustard oil remains clear. Other adulterants of mustard oil include mobil oil which turns turbid in the presence of alcoholic potash.

Castor oil can be detected by dissolving the sample in petroleum ether and cooling in an ice-salt mixture. Turbidity within five minutes shows adulteration. While mineral oils can damage the liver, castor oil causes vomiting, loose motions and convulsions, the paper said. Chalk powder is another common adulterant mixed into sugar, turmeric powder, spices and catechu powder, but can be discovered easily because it settles to the bottom in a glass tumbler.

Unpermitted colours can cause cancer and degeneration of the reproductive organs. These can be detected by adding hydrochloric acid when a pink or magenta colour develops. Metanyl yellow, a dye, is often added to sweetmeat, ice cream, various beverages and even parboiled rice and dal and turns magenta on exposure to hydrochloric acid.

Kesari dal which causes paralysis and lathyrism cam also be detected usinghydrocholric acid. Lead chromate which is mixed into turmeric powder can cause anaemia, abortion, paralysis and brain damage and housewives should watch for the yellow colour it leaves on contact with water.

Exhausted tea leaves are “revived” by adding coal tar which can cause cancer, but leaves traces when spread out on wet filter paper. It is a fallacy to think that only government agencies can carry out tests as even voluntary organisations are empowered to carry them out, IJCP said.