Adulteration of milk, milk products, sweets, oil and other food items has increased by 7 percent in Punjab in the last one year. To increase the quantity and shelf life of milk, unscrupulous elements add detergent, urea, starch, glucose and formalin to it. In 2024-25, 22 percent of food samples were found to fail in Punjab, while in 2023-24, 15 percent of samples failed. Dangerous adulteration of food items is giving rise to diseases related to cancer, liver and kidney, as well as diarrhea, allergies, nausea and diabetes. This has been revealed in a report by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSAI). According to the report, 6041 samples were taken in the year 2023-24, out of which 929 samples failed. This was 15.38 percent of the total samples. Due to this, the license of one unit was also cancelled. If we talk about 2022-23, 8179 food samples were taken, out of which 1724 samples failed i.e. 21.08 percent, while out of 6768 food samples taken in 2021-22, 1059 samples did not meet the prescribed standards. This was 15.65 percent of the total samples. Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav has presented this report in the Lok Sabha in response to a question. If we look at the data of the last 4 years, adulteration is increasing, but the sampling by the department is also decreasing, which is clear that if more samples had been taken in the last few years, some more shocking figures of adulteration could have come to light. Chemicals present in adulterated foods like lead and arsenic can cause cancer. Similarly, these chemicals can damage the kidneys. Their consumption can have adverse effects on the heart and other organs.
F.S.A.I. Regularly monitors, inspects and takes samples of food products to detect food adulteration through regional offices in states and union territories. Action is taken by the authority under the Food Safety and Standards Act of India, which includes imposing fines and cancelling licenses. But complete strictness is not being done. However, despite registering civil and criminal cases against the adulterators, this scourge could not be curbed. The punishment in such cases is very low, due to which it continues unabated despite the registration of cases. Most of the accused know that they will escape the legal process. Testing kits for identifying commonly used adulterants in milk are available in the market. It is necessary to make these products economical. Apart from this, they should be easy to use and simple so that the quality of milk can be checked by consumers as well as in cooperative dairies and plants. Along with this, food safety agencies should be proactive in inspecting and testing food products. Strict action should be taken against those responsible for substandard standards after testing the samples. In such cases, when the culprits are not punished, the bad elements get strength and they continue to play with the health of the people. The government needs to pay attention to this.
