Food safety is essential for public health as food borne diseases affect people’s health and well-being. Image Courtesy – https://gurumavin.com
Food adulteration is the burning topic for the present generation. Food plays a compelling role for human continuation. If any tampering is done with food processing then it creates menace to the society. Food adulteration is the process by which the quality is lowered either by addition of inferior quality material or extraction of valuable ingredients thus making it alarming for human consumption.
Leafing through the pages of history, it was done in prehistoric times to extend the longevity of food. Later the food fraud was done for economic gain. Food can be transfused deliberately or accidentally. Intentional food tainting is commonly done for pocket profit.
Read: Food adulteration in India has become an epidemic
Food tainting is highly rampant in India and common adulteration is done in case of milk and diary products, milk being the softest target. Some people are into it as their predecessors had made it a business. So they were simply following the legacy. If such people are educated and certain awareness is created then Food tampering can be prohibited to some extent. Currently food degrading is the most paying business.
Unsafe food creates a vicious cycle of diseases and malnutrition affecting all age groups but infants and the old are the worst victims. Food safety is essential for public health as food borne diseases affect people’s health and well-being. Food borne diseases impede socio-economic development by straining health care system and adversely affect national economic tourism and trade.
Since food passes through multiple hands, from the farm to reach our plates, it requires the contribution of multiple sectors to ensure food safety.
Street foods, being the important source of food for a large section of population, it is a vital source of food borne diseases.
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New threats are emerging constantly making it difficult for the government to eradicate it permanently.
Indirect but vital causes are climate change, global warming, advancement of science and technology resulting in new fertilizers and pesticides.
The criminals should not be punished leniently. Every country should teach moral and ethical values to their citizens, in order to avoid this dreadful cycle.
