GUWAHATI, May 10 - Food adulteration has become a serious issue in the country and this is affecting the common people here too in a severe manner, said Krishno Kanto Borooah, president of the voluntary organisation Save Guwahati Build Guwahati (SGBG) today.
He also urged the authorities concerned to take stern measures to eliminate this threat with constant monitoring of the markets.
Moreover, he said the common people should also be careful to check the devious practices of adulterating food items or selling them by the traders. There should be a united movement on the part of the consumers to mount pressure on the traders and the authorities as well for bringing an end to all such evil practices.
The list of the adulterated food items sold here includes milk, rice, pulses, cooking oils, wheat products, among others. Chemical contamination of the food items like fruits and vegetables has also added to the threat to the public health here, he said.
Citing official reports, Borooah said the city can produce every day 1 lakh litres of natural milk, against the demand of 4 lakh litres. If this is the case, the question arises as to where from the rest 3 lakh litres of milk come.
It is reported that this huge amount of milk is artificially �manufactured� by using urea, caustic soda, formalin and detergent powder. All these chemicals are harmful to public health. Health experts are of the opinion that those, who are consuming such milk or products of such milk, are sure to face serious health-related problems, including heart and nervous system-related problems.
Again, the fruits and vegetables containing high amounts of fertilizer and pesticide residues have also been posing serious threats to public health.
In matters related to chicken and mutton, it has been reported that the broiler chicken sold in the city markets contain high amounts of residues of artificial hormones, antibiotics and other chemicals. Those who refuse to buy broiler chicken and opt for the local chicken are now facing a trick of the unscrupulous chicken dealers/vendors. Most of the dealers/vendors are now presenting these consumers with kurolier (coiler) to dupe them.
The butchers who sale mutton in the city markets also don't follow the norms. They are gleefully violating the legal provisions to get the goats meant for slaughter checked by the appropriate authorities prior to being slaughtered and get the goats slaughtered at the slaughterhouses.
On top of all these, there are no visible measures to check the residues of chemicals in the fruits and vegetables sold in the city market, nor there is any visible attempt made by the authorities concerned to determine the safety standards of the sweets sold in the city markets.
The authorities concerned are turning a blind eye to the above issues and they are also maintaining a mysterious silence over the issue of fixing prices of all items in the city markets. The authorities concerned should take urgent measures to introduce a system for monitoring the quality of all items sold in the city markets and to form a committee with representatives of the consumers in it for the purpose of checking the quality of the items and to determine their prices, said the SGBG president.
