Editorial: Bitter truth behind adulteration

Last week, food researchers from the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), an environment watchdog, came out with the results of a study, which said honey sold by several major brands in India was found to be adulterated with sugar syrup. 

As much as 77 per cent of the 22 samples tested were adulterated, and only five brands had passed all the tests. And just about three of the top 13 brands passed the internationally accepted benchmark - the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (NMR) test. The fructose syrup imported from Chinese manufacturers was formulated to bypass laboratory tests in India and remain undetectable, vis-a-vis the sugar content. 

The results add to the continuum of India's lax attitude towards food safety. According to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India's (FSSAI) Annual Report 2018-19, a doubling of food adulteration cases was witnessed in the last eight years. Of the 1,06,459 food samples tested, 30,415 samples were found to be non-conforming, i.e. a whopping 28 per cent. Out of this, 3,900 samples were declared unsafe, while 16,870 were substandard. 

As many as 2,813 criminal cases, as well as 18,550 civil cases, were filed and defaulters were fined an amount of Rs 32.5 cr. The food samples tested include milk and milk products, edible oils and fats, jams, jellies, pulses, pickles, cereals, sweets, bakery items, and condiments among others. A cause for concern was that Tamil Nadu, along with Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand, had the highest percentage (45%) of adulterated samples in the country. 

Just last year, the Tamil Nadu Foodgrains Merchants Association had alleged 90% of the jaggery and jaggery powder produced in the State was of an adulterated nature. The president of the association had pointed out that adulteration has affected the state's revenues massively. He highlighted that the famed temple Sabarimala used to consume about 1,000 tonnes (or 10 lakh kg) of jaggery annually, which was supplied by Tamil Nadu. 

Following reports of adulteration, Sabarimala and other major temples have begun procurement of jaggery from Maharashtra. The problem has assumed gargantuan proportions as last month, a parliamentary panel had asked FSSAI to prod states to take serious cognizance of corruption and unethical practices in food safety. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare said that despite increasing instances of food adulteration, the number of cancelled licenses, with the state and the Centre were low, which was a cause for concern over the mechanisms that govern food safety monitoring. 

In October, FSSAI issued a public notice inviting suggestions on a proposal by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare about the Food Safety and Standards (Amendment) Bill 2020, an improvement over the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. The Amendment proposed even more stringent punishment to those indulging in food adulteration as per Section 59A, which advocates a jail term of seven years to life imprisonment as well a fine of Rs 10 lakh.