02-26-2005, 01:56 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> <b>Scare in Britain, but risk is higher here</b>
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2005 12:58:14 AM ]
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: It's just about everywhere - in the spices, vegetables, fruits, milk, tea leaves, coffee, honey, salt - you name it. Adulteration, often with stuff that's very harmful to your health, is a given. The risks range from kidney damage, sterility, brain damage to cancer.
"According to our estimates, 90% of the stuff being sold in the unorganised sector is adulterated. In the organised sector, however, it's not so bad, although even there you'll have cases of adulteration every now and then," said Sanjay Goyal, who heads the food safety division at Delhi-based Voice, an NGO which looks after consumer interests.
Ever wondered why the <b>brinjals look so shiny? Well, it could be mobile oil. </b>And if <b>your ice-cream tasted a bit, well, soapy, may be it was washing powder</b>. Want to go off food? According to experts, <b>dhania (coriander) powder is at times mixed with horse dung. And pickles are often spiked with copper salts that can ruin your kidneys</b>.
<!--emo&:o--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ohmy.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Welcome to high-risk living. India, along with other South Asian countries, is particularly lax when it comes to food standards. The result is not merely adulteration, but adulteration with dangerous ingredients. Even branded stuff don't necessarily conform to standards.
Before you rush to the salad bar for a second helping, consider this â the inviting green ensemble may just be a Great Indian Additives Trick. <b>A sprinkle of the super white sulphur metabisulphite powder can preserve the fresh look, but also trigger a nasty allergy attack in an asthmatic person</b>.
Domestic experts here are hoping the chilli powder scare in the UK could become a spark off a debate in India over food hazards. Take t<b>artrazine, a yellow additive that's been a part of the "secret recipe" for perfect-looking jalebis</b>. "Tartrazine is known to cause allergies in sensitive persons," says Mumbai-based allegorist Dr Pramod Niphadkar.
"Adulteration takes place at each stage right from agricultural production to the point of sale of goods. The toxicity just keeps increasing at each level," said Delhi-based Gopal Krishna of Toxics Link, an NGO which has filed a PIL in the Supreme Court demanding the consumer's right to safe food.
Apart from the pesticides that creep into the food chain, <b>fruits like bananas and mangoes, are often exposed to calcium carbide to make them ripen fast</b>. Even traces of this can cause miscarriages. Similarly, traces of oxytocin, injections of which are given to cattle, can cause abortions, sterility and kidney damage.Â
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TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2005 12:58:14 AM ]
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: It's just about everywhere - in the spices, vegetables, fruits, milk, tea leaves, coffee, honey, salt - you name it. Adulteration, often with stuff that's very harmful to your health, is a given. The risks range from kidney damage, sterility, brain damage to cancer.
"According to our estimates, 90% of the stuff being sold in the unorganised sector is adulterated. In the organised sector, however, it's not so bad, although even there you'll have cases of adulteration every now and then," said Sanjay Goyal, who heads the food safety division at Delhi-based Voice, an NGO which looks after consumer interests.
Ever wondered why the <b>brinjals look so shiny? Well, it could be mobile oil. </b>And if <b>your ice-cream tasted a bit, well, soapy, may be it was washing powder</b>. Want to go off food? According to experts, <b>dhania (coriander) powder is at times mixed with horse dung. And pickles are often spiked with copper salts that can ruin your kidneys</b>.
<!--emo&:o--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ohmy.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Welcome to high-risk living. India, along with other South Asian countries, is particularly lax when it comes to food standards. The result is not merely adulteration, but adulteration with dangerous ingredients. Even branded stuff don't necessarily conform to standards.
Before you rush to the salad bar for a second helping, consider this â the inviting green ensemble may just be a Great Indian Additives Trick. <b>A sprinkle of the super white sulphur metabisulphite powder can preserve the fresh look, but also trigger a nasty allergy attack in an asthmatic person</b>.
Domestic experts here are hoping the chilli powder scare in the UK could become a spark off a debate in India over food hazards. Take t<b>artrazine, a yellow additive that's been a part of the "secret recipe" for perfect-looking jalebis</b>. "Tartrazine is known to cause allergies in sensitive persons," says Mumbai-based allegorist Dr Pramod Niphadkar.
"Adulteration takes place at each stage right from agricultural production to the point of sale of goods. The toxicity just keeps increasing at each level," said Delhi-based Gopal Krishna of Toxics Link, an NGO which has filed a PIL in the Supreme Court demanding the consumer's right to safe food.
Apart from the pesticides that creep into the food chain, <b>fruits like bananas and mangoes, are often exposed to calcium carbide to make them ripen fast</b>. Even traces of this can cause miscarriages. Similarly, traces of oxytocin, injections of which are given to cattle, can cause abortions, sterility and kidney damage.Â
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