Sardar Khan Niazi

Nation welcomes Prime Minister Imran Khan’s announcement that adulteration of food items will not be tolerated at any cost and directed officials to form a National Action Plan in one week to stop this illegal practice.

Prime Minister said that adulteration cannot be permitted as people involved in this illegal practice are playing with health of people and children. Adulterated items are spreading diseases as well as affecting growth of children, he added.

He directed the authorities to enforce emergency at national level to prevent adulteration of food, besides calling for a strict action against those playing with lives of people.

Food is considered to be adulterated if it contains any poisonous ingredient.

Any valuable or necessary constituent has been wholly or in part abstracted or any cheaper substance has been substituted wholly or in part. It is colored or otherwise treated, to improve its appearance or if it contains any added substance injurious to health. It has been prepared, packed or kept under insanitary conditions. Its quality is below the standard. It is obtained from diseased animal. It is unusual bigger in size than it needs to be.

The tendency of adulteration in essential food items like milk, ghee, edible oil, drinking water, meat, pulses and other items is wide spread. Citizens work hard and earn to satisfy one’s hunger. But at the end of the day, they are not sure of what they are eating. They might be eating a dangerous dye, sawdust, industrial starch or other contaminated foods which are a major source of diseases. And thus, we invite diseases rather than good health. Food adulteration is basically lowering the quality of food for sale either by the admixture or by the substitution of inferior substances or by the removal of some valuable nutritious ingredient.

As food is the basic necessity of life, it should be unadulterated, nourishing and free from any type of contamination for proper maintenance of human health.

Adulteration is going on in our country just for a few bugs. People do not bother for others’ lives and health. Cucumber is injected with the oxytocin given to pregnant ladies during their labor pains just to increase its size. Taking that may lead to heart problem, high blood pressures and could even lead to death.

Likewise, banana is treated with ethril containing ethylene that could lead to loss of memory or blindness. There are many more food items, even no fruit or vegetable has remained unharmed of the adulteration. Some of the common adulterated foods are milk and milk products, atta, edible oils, cereals, pulses, tea, coffee and vinegar. The consequences of taking adulterated foods could be more than very dangerous, it could lead to paralysis, asthma, anemia, vomiting, diarrhea ulcer,, liver damage, cancer etc. The common gastric problems, less appetite are also the gift of these adulterated products.

Adulteration, no doubt, is one the biggest problems our dear homeland is facing. Whatever we are eating or using is undoubtedly adulterated. Exceptions are always there, of course. Children’s staple food, milk is full of water and other intoxicants. If we love fruit, they also contain harmful chemicals.

If unfortunately we fall ill and take medicines, they may also be not pure. Air is impure and even the thinking of the people is adulterated. So this problem has become the part and parcel of our modern life. It has affected our health a lot.

There are anti-social people who wish to make easy money. They are heartless people who mix low quality, cheap, non-edible substances with food and make it adulterated. These substances are called adulterants.

These adulterants are like slow poison which take our life slowly but surely. Check the adulterants which these unscrupulous people use to garner more and more profits: Coriander (Dhania)  Powder with cow-dung or horse dung; Milk with water and chemical mixture of urea or washing powder; Rice with stones; Cooking oil with inferior quality of oils; Red chili with brick powder etc.

The officials who are working in connivance with these anti-social elements must be controlled and punished. For a bit of bribe, they allow them to play with the health of the people. They don’t know it may be their own family members who can become their prey in future.

There should be ads/messages on electronic media and in newspapers that discourage the people involved in this malpractice. If we wish to make our society healthy, we must do everything to stop this malpractice called adulteration.

Let’s whole-heartedly support PM’s drive against adulteration as it is to our own benefit.