Dr A C Bhagat
Now-a-days often one comes across news in print media, on social media etc. about unsafe food and adulteration in food items, which has posed a threat to consumers i.e. human lives. Often it has been observed in the past that most of the factory owners / manufacturers / sellers /vendors etc. are concerned with profit considerations only and some of them with greed and ugly motives resort to illegitimate means of more earnings by the way of adulteration in food items thereby staking the human lives to health-hazards which often have proved to befatal, at times. Basically, this is a breach of trust, our trust in the system which is there to protect us, trust that whatever edibles we bring home, won’t harm us and what we feed our children, won’t harm them. This trust is rotting every single day.
Very recently Srinagar police made a huge cache of 11 to 12 quintals of purportedly rotten and decomposed packed meat allegedly imported from outside by some unscrupulous persons for human consumption thereby playing with health and lives of the people, upon which the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah himself has taken cognizance of the matter and has advocated for exemplary punitive action against defaulters i.e. those found storing or selling such unsafe food (D.E.12th August 2025) and further saying that there will be audit of the concerned departments and mechanism to stop import, sale and use of the unhygienic meat and other food items. He has further directed for establishment of testing laboratories at Lakhanpur and Qazigund to tighten the quality control and screening of the mutton, chicken and other perishable items entering Jammu and Kashmir. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah further directed that food testing laboratories be set up at every district headquarter instead of limiting such facility only at Jammu and Srinagar. No doubt, such measures / directives announced by the chief minister are laudable yet one cannot believe all such announcements politicians make until and unless such announcements, directives are implemented practically, on ground.
In a similar way in the recent past i.e. on 8th August 2025 concerned minister for Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) Satish Sharma, warned that anybody found “risking people’s lives” by supplying adulterated consumable items, will face stringent action after visiting several locations including FCI Go-down in Srinagar and that such surprise inspections were prompted by circulating video showing poor quality rice from Shilwat area, and the quality shown was unacceptable and therefore conducted inspections in Srinagar to check the distribution, minister further said. In continuation Sharma said that the government will ensure that only the best quality rice reaches the consumers. Such directives too are quite laudable and need of the hour but it is yet to be seen as to whether such directives will become a reality on ground ?
Again, in the recent past in Bishnah (Jammu) the Department of Food and Drug Administration (DFCO) in collaboration with Bishnah police and Revenue Department, successfully cracked down a large-scale food adulteration racket in Bishnah, Jammu. They jointly raided a cold store facility in the Co-operative Society, Tehsil Bishnah and detected an alarming quantity of adulterated sweets (Rasgullas) approximately 440 quintals contained in 2750 tins. During the inspection the team observed that the alleged adulterated food was stored in a cold store run by Bishnah Co-operative Marketing Society and the Food Business Operator (FBO) was running the establishment without a valid license and in gross violation of the Food Safety and Standards Act. (FSSA), 2006 and reportedly legal action stands started.
The alleged adulteration of Paneer (Cheese) is reportedly a routine matter by manufacturers cum sellers at par with the milk. There have been dozens and dozens of examples of seizure of Paneer / Cheese but the practice could not get stopped by the supervisory and monitoring agencies i.e. concerned government departments. Lately, 8.5 quintal of adulterated Paneer was seized (D.E.26th July 2025) by the Food Safety Wing of DECO, Jammu division along with Bahu Fort police. The consignment was captured in a Katra bound bus in Jammu coming from Delhi. In this case also one can imagine as to what would have been the fate of those after consuming such adulterated Paneer?
Purportedly, adulteration of milk by water is also not uncommon, similarly adulteration of edible oils, Ghee, Honey, Paneer (Cheese), turmeric powder (Haldi),condiments and even vegetables and fruits are not spared. Allegedly some hormones are injected in various vegetables like Ash-gourd (Gheeaa), Bottle gourd (Loki), Watermelon (Tarbooza), mangoes, pumpkin(kadoo) etc. There is hearsay in public domain that allegedadulteration of various eatables is done, of which a very few are mentioned hereunder:
* of Desi Ghee is done by mixing boiled potato, refined vegetable oils and Dalda ghee etc.
* Of Honey is done by mixing sugar (white sugar) in case of white honey and (brown colored sugar or Gur) when honey is brown colored.
* Of Paneer / Cheese is purportedly done in many ways by the unscrupulous elements in the society like by mixing in a way as milk powder + water + Choona i.e. lime /calcium oxide +palm oil. In so many other cases allegedly it is manipulated by synthetic substances and the most common being Starch. Paneer is a creamy protein packed and it is a hero in vegetarian diet. Many organizations claim that in India Paneer is a most adulterated food product in the country. The situation is so bad that owners are taking things in their own hands. A very popular Iodine Test can help detect the starch- a common adulterant, in paneer. If Iodine solution turns blue or black when added to paneer, it indicates presence of starch, suggesting adulteration.
* Of edible Oils allegedly by mixing some chemical substances etc. Many such videos are viral on social media platforms showing that when chemically adulterated edible oil is poured in the cooking utensil, on heating it turns green, etc.
* Chemical preservatives are used in packing most of the fruits, vegetables, Jams, pickles, milk products, meats etc. Even coloring substances are used to color many fruits it is alleged.
* In Hotels, Restaurants, Dhabas, Street food vendors etc. use coloring substances to make the eatables more attractive to customers but it is also claimed that such coloring substances are harmful to health. It is also a hearsay that these food coloring substances are the same used in coloring / dyeing of garments and purportedly these coloring substances are carcinogenic.
* Similarly, in Poultry Farming, allegedly hormonal injections (orally also) and antibiotics are given to the Chick right from day old age till its slaughter. Often the workers in the poultry farms are illiterate /semi-literate persons who often perform such duties of hormonal use and other medicinal items to poultry livestock, which too pose threat to human lives.
Cases of adulteration of food or eatable items that come to lime light or those are detected by Government agencies, may be only less than 1% because incidents of adulteration go undetected and unobserved as there in no consistent, stringent and controlling mechanism in place and therefore, so many such other examples of adulteration may be there.
Prominent reasons of adulteration are:
* High demand, as India has a booming population.
* Greed and to maximize profits.
* Lack of stringent and consistent regulations.
Like past, there are many government agencies that can play an effective role in combating and even bringing an end this menace of adulteration of food and other eatable items. Food adulteration is directly governed by;
* Food Safety and Standard Act. (FCCA) and is mainly implemented by the Food Safety Department.
* Legal Metrology Department (LMD) – this department in J&K primarily enforces laws related to Weights, Measures and Standards to protect the public interests. This department works in coordination to curb malpractices in the market and elsewhere.
* Food Safety wing- Drug and Food Control Organization (DFCO), J&K – It is a primary authority under the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006. It inspects manufacturing units, markets, restaurants, bakeries, etc. also collects food samples and sends for laboratory testing. It also imposed penalties, bans et.
* Department of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) – This department controls quality of food grains and edible oils and government ration Depots.
* Municipal Corporations and Local Bodies, can conduct hygienic inspections of street food vendors and hotels. Can also seal the premises and can impose fine for sale of unhygienic and adulterated food items.
* Animal and Sheep Husbandry Departments – can play a key role in checking meat, milk, milk products besides poultry. There is also a hearsay in the public domain that Artificial Eggs (Chinese Eggs) are also there in market circulations.
* Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) – grants BIS certification for packed food items and also acts against misuse of BIS marks on substandard products.
*Home department (Police) – without police no enforcement / implementation is possible. For every law, rule etc. role of police department is very significant.
However, authorities often make a show of raids and seizures in the days before festivals, but these sporadic bursts of enforcement do little to stem the supply chain. For checking adulteration and use of chemicals in the food items and other eatables, a Calendar like schedule is required to be framed and followed consistently throughout 365 days of the year and round the clock, otherwise what is the fun of establishing of so many departments, wings and agencies as enumerated above as there is nothing precious than human lives.
(The author is former Dy. Director/presently Chairperson, Lok Adhikaar Mission, J&K)
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