Describe food adulteration and the food standards in India.

Food Adulteration and Food Standards

• The types of adulteration:
• Intentional — deliberate, for profit: adding water to milk, clay or stones to grain, argemone oil to mustard oil
• Incidental — arising from ignorance or carelessness: pesticide residues, larvae, droppings, or contamination during processing
• Metallic — lead from solder or old pipes, arsenic, mercury and tin
• Packaging hazards — from unsuitable containers, printed newspaper used to wrap fried food, and low-grade plastic
• The important adulterants and their effects should be known as pairs, since this is exactly how they are examined:
• Argemone oil in mustard oil → epidemic dropsy, presenting with bilateral pitting oedema of the legs, gastrointestinal upset, glaucoma and cardiac failure; detected by the nitric acid test. India has had repeated large outbreaks of this
• Kesari dal (Lathyrus sativus) mixed with other pulses → lathyrism, causing spastic paraplegia of the lower limbs in young men, due to the neurotoxin BOAA; prevented by banning the sale, and by parboiling or steeping in hot water to leach the toxin
• Aflatoxin from Aspergillus flavus on damp groundnut and maize → liver damage and hepatocellular carcinoma; prevented by proper drying and storage
• Metanil yellow and other non-permitted coal tar dyes in turmeric, pulses and sweets → toxicity and possible carcinogenicity
• Endosulfan and other pesticide residues
• Melamine in milk, added to falsify the apparent protein content, causing renal failure
• Common simple adulterants — water and starch in milk; chicory in coffee; brick powder in chilli powder; lead chromate in turmeric; papaya seeds in black pepper; and chalk or clay in flour
• Simple household tests exist for several and are worth knowing — chilli powder or brick dust settles and colours water; papaya seeds float while pepper sinks; adulterated turmeric leaves a coloured residue; and vanaspati in ghee is detected by the furfural test
• The legal framework — the food safety and standards act, 2006 consolidated the earlier laws including the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, and established the food safety and standards authority of INDIA (FSSAI)
• Its features — a single authority replacing multiple overlapping laws; licensing and registration of every food business; science-based standards; a shift toward self-compliance by the food business operator with surveillance; graded penalties; food analysts and designated officers with powers of sampling; and consumer rights and grievance mechanisms
• Other relevant standards — AGMARK for agricultural produce; ISI/BIS for processed and packaged foods; CODEX alimentarius internationally; and the eat right INDIA campaign
• The preventive measures — legislation and its enforcement, which is the weak link; regular inspection and sampling with adequate laboratory capacity; licensing of food premises; consumer education, including the simple household tests; encouraging purchase of branded and standardised products where affordable; consumer organisations and grievance redress; and deterrent penalties with prompt prosecution
• The honest assessment — the law is adequate; the enforcement is not, being limited by too few inspectors and laboratories, delays in analysis and prosecution, and the vast informal and unorganised food sector that no inspectorate can cover — which is why consumer awareness is a necessary complement to regulation rather than a substitute for it
• Learn the adulterant-disease pairs, since that is precisely how the topic is examined
• Argemone oil causes epidemic dropsy, with leg oedema, glaucoma and cardiac failure, detected by the nitric acid test
• Kesari dal causes lathyrism, a spastic paraplegia of young men, prevented by parboiling or steeping
• Aflatoxin causes liver cancer, and is prevented by proper drying and storage rather than by any treatment
• The law is adequate and enforcement is not, which is the honest assessment of Indian food safety
• No inspectorate can cover the informal sector, which is why consumer awareness complements regulation
• Papaya seeds float and pepper sinks, which is a household test anyone can perform
• Melamine falsifies apparent protein in milk, and causes renal failure, which is a purely commercial adulteration
• FSSAI replaced multiple overlapping laws with a single authority under the 2006 Act
• Agmark covers agricultural produce and ISI processed foods, which are commonly confused
• Incidental adulteration arises from carelessness, and includes pesticide residues and contamination during processing
• Newspaper wrapping transfers printing ink, which is a packaging hazard rather than an adulterant proper
• Penalties must be prompt to deter, and delayed prosecution is as ineffective as no prosecution