A 'mix' state of affairs

A healthy population is a blessing for any nation for it not only serves as a reservoir of productive manpower but also saves spending on public health. According to the UN, around 195 million Indians are undernourished — a quarter of the global hunger burden. Around 47 million children fail to achieve full physical human potential either due to chronic undernutrition or stunted growth. This doesn't augur well for the future as weak and unhealthy citizens cannot make a strong nation. According to the 2021 Global Hunger Index, India has slipped to 101 from 94 in 2020 and is now even behind Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. While hunger and malnutrition are the main culprits, adulteration of grains, milk, oil, vegetables, spices, sugar, sweets, and packaged instant foods makes the scenario even worse as it robs people of the nutrition they are entitled to in return for their hard-earned money spent. The question is, even as we fail to completely eradicate hunger and malnutrition, can't we at least make sure that people get nutritious and unadulterated food as the true value for their money.

While unscrupulous profiteers thrive on food adulteration, helpless consumers, especially the low-income groups and the BPL families bear the brunt since they spend a lion's share of their earnings on food provisions. It appears the phenomenon is increasingly becoming a 'new normal' as cases increase year by year. According to the Annual Public Laboratory Testing Report, in 2014-15, out of 49,290 tested samples, around 20 per cent were found to be adulterated. In 2018-19, National Accreditation Board for Testing & Calibration Laboratories (NABL) found 28.56 per cent of 1,06,459 samples as adulterated or non-confirming. No doubt there is an increase in the prosecution against adulteration, misbranding and substandard materials across the states (from 13,080 cases in 2016-17 to 21,363 cases in 2018-19) but the numbers are inadequate in comparison to the magnitude of the flourishing unethical business.

Awareness about food adulteration and related health hazards is abysmally low in India. Firstly, the IEC system is barely in place unlike concerning the consumption of tobacco or alcohol and secondly, concern for long term health implications of adulterated food is often outweighed by the immediate need of the people to eat and survive. Struggle for existence amid chronic poverty, low incomes and job uncertainty breeds apathy in people which in turn leads to a voluntary waiver of consumer rights.

Studies revealed that around 57 per cent of people (32 per cent children; 25 per cent adults) in the world developed health problems by consumption of adulterated food. Ailments range from stomach disorders, diarrhoea, dysentery, and anemia, to heart problems, liver disorders, cancer, asthma, and kidney malfunction. Unhygienic water commonly mixed in milk is believed to spread water-borne diseases through viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and helminths. Adulteration puts consumers in double jeopardy: first, wrongful loss of nutrients; second, rise in out-of-pocket expenses on health.

An average consumer is vulnerable in a market, no matter offline or online. Around 60 per cent of milk is adulterated; not to mention synthetic milk which is manufactured using harmful chemicals including detergent and Urea. Khoya, a condensed milk product extensively used in cuisines of the subcontinent mostly in sweets is adulterated with materials like blotting paper, refined oil, skimmed milk powder etc. Malachite green, wax oxytone, copper sulphate, and calcium carbide are common chemicals used for storing, ripening and marketing fruits and vegetables. Let's not even mention pulses of all kinds. Around 70 per cent of packaged food items are reported to be genetically modified. Tea leaves are mixed with other similar looking leaves and coffee powder is adulterated with ground tamarind seeds; the details are only illustrative. The modus operandi of the adulteration business is outrageous as equally disappointing is the performance of enforcement machinery.

Laws are in abundance against food adulteration and punishments vary from six months to three years of imprisonment along with a fine. In addition to IPC, there are some specific laws: the Vegetable Oil Products (Control) Order (1947), the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (1954), Essential Commodities Act (1955), the Fruit Products Order (1955), the Solvent Extracted Oil, Deoiled Meal, and Edible Flour (Control) Order (1967), the Meat Food Products Order (1973), the Milk and Milk Products Order (1992).

Under the Food Safety and Standards Act (2006), FSSAI was constituted to prescribe regulations for food safety standards and guidelines for accreditation of food testing laboratories. The FSSAI autonomous body is also responsible for the dissemination of information and promotion of awareness about nutrition and safety. But ground realities tell a different story. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in the audit report of 2019 observed that "Neither FSSAI nor the state food authorities have documented policies and procedures on risk-based inspections, and the FSSAI does not have any database on food business". The report states that out of the 72 state food laboratories to which food samples were sent, 65 did not have accreditation from NABL. It vitiates the testing of quality. CAG also observed that in a test check it was found that more than 50 per cent of licences were issued in the absence of complete documents. FSSAI also failed to frame regulations for recruitment even after 10 years of enactment of the FSS Act leading to a severe shortage of enforcement staff across the states.

Academics attribute the food adulteration business to factors such as lack of purchasing power, socioeconomic structure, the gap between demand and supply etc. But most importantly, it is the inefficiency of enforcement agencies that fuels the fire. Action against food adulteration is never a priority agenda in review meetings of either District Collectors locally or of the Chief Secretaries at the state level. The concerned departments have a severe dearth of staff which makes enforcement difficult. Many states do not have proper testing labs. Moreover, testing by accredited laboratories is an expensive and time-consuming process that procrastinates the proceedings. Rapid and low-cost test facilities are long overdue along with necessary modifications in provisions of law to make way for speedy trials. There is another area of serious concern still. Political patronage to offenders, ubiquitous in nature, makes things worse no less than the unholy nexus between the field level functionaries and the perpetrators, the worst-case scenario, which reduces the entire exercise of enforcement to a mere a farce.

Ensuring safe and unadulterated food items should be a priority for any government irrespective of politics. Prevention of offence is more important than prosecution. Neither does a common man doesn't have the time or resources to knock on the doors of consumer forums every time, nor are the consumer forums kiosks of instant relief either. Only a streamlined and vigilant enforcement mechanism can be a deterrent against violation of the law. Public servants involved have a pivotal role to play. They need to go the extra mile.

The writer is a former Addl. Chief Secretary of Chhattisgarh. Views expressed are personal