Bihar-Heaven for food adulterators and fraudsters?

Though Bihar has been hogging all the lime light lately for all wrong reasons, what is sad to hear is the pathetic infrastructure the state has for protecting the citizens from rampant adulteration of almost all foods sold in the market place. There are lakhs and lakhs of retailers and traders selling a diverse basket of foods that include essential materials like cereal, pulses and edible oils while milk vendors, thousands of them, selling milk at the door steps of many households. According to some studies the extent of adulteration in these essential food items can be as high as 50-60% with the hapless citizens there being taken for a ride with or without their knowledge. While many adulterants might be innocuous and considered economic offenses, there are many instances when food materials contain dangerous components, extraneous to the original food with the potential to cause serious health disorders. Unless there is constant vigilance and deterrent action the food criminals will have no fear of the law. How can any responsible government in a state like Bihar rest in peace when its citizens are exposed to dangerous adulterants in their day to day foods? Obviously this does not seem to be a priority area deserving attention at the hands of the current rulers in the state. Here is a take on this unfortunate state of affairs in that state vis-a-vis food safety. 

"ood safety is a matter of concern, thanks to a nationwide row over Maggi. Bihar's food safety wing has, however, only 14 officers to man its 38 districts.  In contrast, the food safety officers number 554 in Tamil Nadu, 273 in UP, 178 in Gujarat, 169 in Madhya Pradesh and 87 in Jammu & Kashmir, according to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) website. Bihar food safety commissioner Anand Kishor candidly admits this wing is understaffed. "But the health department has accepted a proposal to create 625 posts of food safety officers. The finance department will soon give its nod to it," he said."

Is it not ridiculous that the FSSAI vested with the responsibility of ensuring food safety in all states in the country is wasting its time and resources chasing the noodle manufacturers showing its "fangs" on imaginary safety issues while the common man who hardly consume any noodle is left to fend for himself? They are more concerned about punishing one noodle manufacturer than taking action to protect the poor people of Bihar! Otherwise how can any one explain the sordid state of food safety management that exists in that state where just 14 personnel are supposed to "look after" 38 districts through preventive and deterrent actions which only can keep the fraudsters on their toes? Even in a smaller state like Tamilnadu there are 20 times more personnel to carry out surveillance in the market than that in Bihar. Will the situation improve after the installation of the new "Lalubetaraj" there? Unlikely because the Rs 1000 crore animal feed scam is still fresh in the memory of every concerned India. 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

"COUNTERFEIT" FOODS-A GLOBALLY ROARING BUSINESS!

Cheating the consumer for making a fast buck is a universal phenomenon, whether in India, China or the US. While consumers can absorb occasional sub-par quality products marketed by some unscrupulous players, it assumes critical dimension when such foods can pose serious health hazards. For example adding water to milk is not directly dangerous
but concocting a milk look alike product made from urea, detergents etc can be really reprehensible and indefensible.
It is interesting that most risky foods churned out by fraudsters posing health risks are more prevalent in developing countries like India while counterfeit foods with doubtful quality are seen more in developed countries. This may probably due to more efficient surveillance and modern infrastructure seen in wealthy countries. According to a recent study economic fraud is more prevalent globally with high priced products like olive oil, saffron, honey etc though mass consumed products do not lag very much behind. Here is an informative piece of report on the subject.  

"Some fear higher world food prices are making food counterfeiting the next big global trend. Counterfeit food is a way to steal millions and put food safety at extreme risk. Obviously, anyone willing to rip off valued brands or products to manufacture counterfeit food outside of any the regulation of any country does not give a rip about food safety. Interpol Police have recently turned up candy bards, fish, cheese, and tomato sauce—all phony—foods that could have ended up in the U.S. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has its own police force for tackling fraudulent foods and drugs. Counterfeit drugs get most of the attention. The World Bank says consumers pay $30 billion annually for fake drugs with Africa being the hardest. Estimates for how much consumers pay for fake food are a little more fluid. At last month's 9th Annual Anti-Counterfeiting and Brand Protection Summit held in Midtown West, NY, a fact sheet from DuPont said counterfeiting cost U.S. businesses $200 billion to $250 billion annually, affecting 92 percent of Fortune 500 companies. Food and beverages are only a slice of that, of course, but consider that Russia has documented $3.3 billion in annual losses due just to counterfeit vodka, the total for food and beverage products would probably be staggering".

If the above report is to be believed the cost of counterfeiting branded foods and drugs is staggering with many major brand owners suffering financially from this under-ground activities of fraudsters. More concerned should be the consumers who are cheated out of their hard earned money by enticing them to buy cheaper foods. Can this criminal activity ever be stopped? Probably not as many experts believe that it would be a logistical nightmare if taken up seriously and it is impossible to eliminate frauds completely. A possible option could be to increase the severity of punishment meted out to the food fraudsters such a way it has a strong deterrent effect on those contemplating committing such frauds.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

AWARD SYSTEM FOR EXPOSING FOOD SAFETY DEFAULTERS-NEW CHINESE MOVE

In a desperate move to improve its track record in safeguarding the health of its citizens from food fraudsters, China is mulling over the possibility of introducing a reward system for whistle blowers who report about food adulteration and fraud. How far such an "informer" system will help to reduce the the impact of the highly profitable food adulteration industry will have to be seen. With mafias and thugs firmly entrenched having linkage with powerful bureaucrats and administrators, those willing to expose them will naturally think twice fearing about their own personal safety. Nevertheless the Chinese experiment is worth watching. 

"In a latest effort to safeguard food safety, China has ordered local authorities to launch a system to reward those who provide information on food safety irregularities. In a statement issued Thursday, the Food Safety Commission under the State Council, or Cabinet, requested local governments to offer rewards to people who provide useful information in helping to protect food safety. Information on the adding of banned materials and abuse of food additives during plant cultivation, animal raising and food production will be rewarded, the commission said. Rewards will also be handed out to people who give tips on the purchase, processing and selling of birds and livestock that die of illness, as well as on the production and sale of fake food products, it added. The commission said higher rewards will be offered to those who provide information on the underground businesses involved in producing, selling or use of illegal additives or making fake and inferior food products".

In India there is a system of rewarding those who give information about smuggling and tax evasion which probably made some small impact and could not be called a success because of the dangers involved for the lives of informers. The present RTI Act also has brought out the risks involved in ferreting out vital and crucial information locked up in government offices that provides security to the corrupt people. Several RTI activists have been murdered by vested interests as there is no protection to the whistle blowers under any constitutional provision.  In China also the reward system is unlikely to be of any significance unless the identity of the informer is protected by the state.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com