Hyderabad ranks first in food adulteration cases; only 30 food safety officers to safeguard entire city

Hyderabad: As per data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), out of the 19 cities surveyed, Hyderabad topped with 246 cases of food adulteration, which is 84 per cent of total cases. To make matters worse, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has just 30 food safety officers to inspect and check adulteration.

The Hyderabad-based NGO, Forum for Good Governance, has asked political parties to make preventing food adulteration one of the core election topics as rampant food adulteration in the state has become a major health concern.

Adulteration of food is done to increase profit margins. Adulteration can also occur due to improper storage, metallic contamination due to prohibited material used for packing etc.

#Update The Telangana State Food laboratory has confirmed the Cadbury Chocolate (Roasted Almond) was
“UNSAFE TO CONSUME” they found WHITE WORMS & WEB!

Here’s the report of the 2 Cadbury chocolates purchased at Ratnadeep Retail.

It is perhaps high time that FMCG companies are… https://t.co/zPvNtKT3NJ pic.twitter.com/8JwBpNZdDg

— Robin Zaccheus (@RobinZaccheus) February 28, 2024

How do food adulterants impact health?

Using harmful chemicals – Ethephon, Ethrel and Calcium Carbide – to artificially ripen fruits (especially mango and banana) is generally observed. To retain the colour, odour, and texture of food articles, additives are used. Permitted food additives do not cause harm but in practice, cheap and banned additives are used causing health hazards.

Consuming adulterated food is an important reason affecting the health of people, including children. Adulterated food may cause allergy, intestinal damage, loss of vision, joint pains, gastrointestinal issues, cardiac problems, cancer in the long run and even paralysis leading to death. Due to high costs and restricted availability, greedy traders involved in the food business are resorting to adulteration.

What is Food Safety and Standards Act 2006?

In 1954, the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act was introduced. There are also many other laws on food adulteration. Finally, to consolidate all laws, the Parliament has enacted the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 (FSS Act). Section 26 of the act makes the food business operator responsible for the quality of ingredients used in the food at all stages of production, processing, import, distribution and sale.

As per the act, no food business operator should store, sell or distribute any article of food, which is unsafe, misbranded, sub-standard, contains extraneous matter etc. He should not employ any person suffering from infections, or contagious diseases in handling food material. Though the act is strong, the implementation of the provisions of the act is lacking because of a shortage of staff, lack of political will, corruption and public apathy.