hamburger icon
A
अ
Read in Hindi
  • Home
  • News
  • Maggi banned but what about adulterated oil, eggs, vegetables, pulses?

Maggi banned but what about adulterated oil, eggs, vegetables, pulses?

WrittenBy

Written By: Agencies | Updated : June 15, 2015 10:09 PM IST

thehealthsite.com top news

Maggi two-minute noodles has been banned due to the presence of lead in some of its samples. But did you know your everyday food is no good? It may not contain lead per say but most of the times it i adulterated with other things? Consider this 64 per cent of loose, edible oils sold in Mumbai are adulterated, according to a study conducted last year by the Consumer Guidance Society of India.

What the study found

The study tested 291 samples of sesame oil, coconut oil, groundnut oil, mustard oil, sunflower oil, cottonseed oil and soybean oil.

Also Read

  • This apart, arsenic above critical limits was found in cereals, pulses, vegetables, roots and tubers.
  • Cadmium above similar criticality was found in cereals, fruits and curd, in a 2013 MS University of Baroda study. Both heavy metals are toxic to human beings.Looking at other items, 28 per cent of eggs sampled in Uttar Pradesh s Bareilly, Dehradun and Izatnagar towns were contaminated with E. coli (effects are said to include diarrhoea, urinary and respiratory infections and pneumonia).
  • 5 per cent with multi-drug resistant salmonella bacteria (Effects: diarrhoea, fever, cramps), according to this 2013 study by the Indian Veterinary Research Institute.More than half of all duck eggs -- a local staple in Kerala -- sampled in Kottayam were contaminated with salmonella, according to this 2011 study.
  • Nearly 69 per cent of 1,791 milk samples in a nationwide study did not conform to Indian standards (though they weren t necessarily unsafe).
  • Lead and other carcinogenic heavy metals have also been commonly found in everything from spinach in Delhi and Nagpur to brinjal, tomato and beans in West Bengal.

As one can see, we are surrounded by food that is contaminated, adulterated and does not meet Indian safety and packaging standards. What we have presented to you is only a sampling of recent studies on Indian foodstuff.

Maggi is the most recognisable instant noodle brands in India. This could justify the nationwide uproar against revelations of adulteration. This also raises fear of several other food items being adulterated.

The bottom line also is India has not kept pace with its toxins. Detection is crucial to counter the growing problem of food adulteration, but the country has not established enough testing laboratories.

But as IndiaSpend finds, India has only 148 food-testing laboratories. This means, each laboratory serves 88 million people. China, by contrast, has one laboratory for every 0.2 million people.

The percentage of food samples found not conforming to the regulations increased from 12.77 percent in 2011-12 to 18.80 percent in 2013-14 -- a six percentage-point increase over three years, as per national food watchdog data.

So, while products are violating safety norms, government agencies have also cracked down on violators. The number of convictions in food-adulteration cases increased from 764 in 2011-12 to 3,845 in 2013-14 -- a 403 percent rise. But does this data provide the full picture?

Source: IANS

Image source: Shutterstock

Also read:

For more articles on diseases & conditions, visit our diseases & conditions section. For daily free health tips, sign up for our newsletter.

Add The Health Site as a Preferred Source Add The Health Site as a Preferred Source

Disclaimer: The content on TheHealthSite.com is only for informational purposes. It is not at all professional medical advice. Always consult your doctor or a healthcare specialist for any questions regarding your health or a medical condition.

Agencies

Agencies

... Read More