Stress on preventing food adulteration

Over two million people are getting prone to food borne diseases due to adulteration, said prominent Indian conssumer activist and general secretary of Consumer Care Centre Rajam Ganesham. Speaking at a panel discussion on ‘Food Safety-Consumer Rights in India and Germany’ held at Goethe-zentrum, Rajam said consumer activists play an important role in eliminating adulteration in food products.

She stressed that government should take responsibility of preventing adulteration in food products at a manufacturing level. Rajam also appealed to the Telangana State government to implement the Food Safety Act strictly as it was not enforced in this state since its last amendment in 2008.

The director of Center for Consumer Education, Research, Training and Testing (CONCERT), G Santhanarajan felt that organic cultivated products are preferable for consumption rather than depending on pesticide based food products. He appealed to the consumer rights activists to create awareness among public about the impending dangers of adulteration.

The director of women’s NGO Sankalp Dr Kinnera Murthy wanted consumers to be aware about the consequences of adulteration as the government regulations would not help much in the backdrop of industry getting disorganised from manufacturer to the retail seller due to the impact of commercialisation and globalisation of markets.

Earlier, product head for food certifications at TUV Rheinland Radhika Subramanyam opined that food safety has become a major issue in India after the Maggie case besides adulteration practices such as street food and unhygienic hand touch. She gave a presentation elaborating on many other issues including the comparison between western laws and Indian laws.