Health hazards aplenty in colourful sweets
1 Nov 2013 11:37 PM GMT
Are you attracted to colorful sweets and tempted to buy them? Be careful as these could be adulterated and may pose major health risks.
The silver foil used for decorating sweets has become the most common form of adulteration. The thin foil on top of the sweets is not a silver foil, but contains aluminium pieces. Its consumption can lead to drastic health problems in both adults and children.
‘Every year adulteration in sweets rises during the festive season, causing threat of food poisoning, stomach aches, allergy and other ailments. Therefore, I either buy sweets from branded stores or prefer preparing them at home which is the safest option. Ironically, despite provision of strict action against adulterators, huge quantities of adulterated milk products including ghee, khoya, paneer and jaggery are being sold in big quantities every year during festive season,’ said Nitika Singh, a resident of Lajpat Nagar.
‘Local sweet makers often use toxic chemicals such metanil yellow, lead nitrate and muriatic acid to prepare laddu, paneer, barfi and gulab jamun. We all get attracted to the shining silver foil on sweets, but on close observation in the public health laboratory, it has been found to be containing aluminium. Not only sweets are adulterated, but also chemicals and artificial colours and aluminium is used in the preparation of varied sweets,’ said an FDA official on condition of anonymity.
‘The more attractive and colourful a sweet appears, the more are the chances of it being adulterated. Most sweet sellers in our area have been fined,’ said a sweet vendor Ganesh (name changed) in Mayur Vihar.
Aluminium foil is whitish gray in colour and is readily soluble in concentrated hydrochloric acid but silver foil is not.
As per law, traders found guilty of violating Food Adulteration Act, 2006 are bound to pay a fine between Rs 50,000 and Rs 2.5 lakh.
What are the health risks?
Adulteration causes serious risk to health. The presence of harmful starch, urea-mixed milk, caustic soda, ararot, artificial sweetening chemicals, non-approved colored sweets such as heavy metals incorporated malachite green and unhygienic conditions can cause acute gastritis, stomach ache, hyper-acidity, serious diarrhoea, dysentery, dehydration, pancreas damage and also kidney damage/inflammation.
The silver foil used for decorating sweets has become the most common form of adulteration. The thin foil on top of the sweets is not a silver foil, but contains aluminium pieces. Its consumption can lead to drastic health problems in both adults and children.
‘Every year adulteration in sweets rises during the festive season, causing threat of food poisoning, stomach aches, allergy and other ailments. Therefore, I either buy sweets from branded stores or prefer preparing them at home which is the safest option. Ironically, despite provision of strict action against adulterators, huge quantities of adulterated milk products including ghee, khoya, paneer and jaggery are being sold in big quantities every year during festive season,’ said Nitika Singh, a resident of Lajpat Nagar.
‘Local sweet makers often use toxic chemicals such metanil yellow, lead nitrate and muriatic acid to prepare laddu, paneer, barfi and gulab jamun. We all get attracted to the shining silver foil on sweets, but on close observation in the public health laboratory, it has been found to be containing aluminium. Not only sweets are adulterated, but also chemicals and artificial colours and aluminium is used in the preparation of varied sweets,’ said an FDA official on condition of anonymity.
‘The more attractive and colourful a sweet appears, the more are the chances of it being adulterated. Most sweet sellers in our area have been fined,’ said a sweet vendor Ganesh (name changed) in Mayur Vihar.
Aluminium foil is whitish gray in colour and is readily soluble in concentrated hydrochloric acid but silver foil is not.
As per law, traders found guilty of violating Food Adulteration Act, 2006 are bound to pay a fine between Rs 50,000 and Rs 2.5 lakh.
What are the health risks?
Adulteration causes serious risk to health. The presence of harmful starch, urea-mixed milk, caustic soda, ararot, artificial sweetening chemicals, non-approved colored sweets such as heavy metals incorporated malachite green and unhygienic conditions can cause acute gastritis, stomach ache, hyper-acidity, serious diarrhoea, dysentery, dehydration, pancreas damage and also kidney damage/inflammation.
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