The Hindu Business Line : End food adulteration

ADULTERATION OF FOOD is a way of life for many — be they manufacturers or traders. Marketing sub-standard quality, mixing low-price inferior substitutes with superior quality food, misbranding, passing off one product as another, cheating in weights and similar acts of skullduggery are all well-known tricks employed by the unscrupulous. These despicable acts flourished when the economy faced conditions of chronic shortages, inflation, severe restrictions on trade and general consumer apathy. In recent years, following economic liberalisation, the food market has been on the evolutionary track. Gone are the days of shortages, and the concomitant activities of hoarding and black-marketing. Restrictions on trade (storage, movement, credit access, licensing) have been removed, by and large. Rising domestic production (despite fluctuations) and liberal imports have ensured there are no serious shortages or major price spikes. For manufacturers and traders the risk-reward profile of adulteration — in terms of making a quick buck — has changed.

Yet, food adulteration is rampant. Consumers are still shortchanged in all sorts of ways. The Government must own up responsibility for this state of affairs. State governments are charged with the responsibility of implementing the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 and the PFA Rules, 1955, a Central legislation that lays down minimum quality norms for various food products. But enforcement of this law is absolutely lax. The State administrations' excuses include inadequate trained manpower to detect and book law-breakers. The potent combination of unethical businessmen and pliant food inspectors means compromised consumer welfare. One classic example of widespread adulteration is edible oil, an essential commodity of mass consumption, in which there is no shortage in the country because of large imports. Yet, pure groundnut or sunflower oil is becoming increasingly scarce. Often, premium oils are mixed with inferior oils and palmed off to unwary consumers. For instance, sunflower oil with soyabean oil or groundnut oil with palmolein. Worse, palm stearine, the solid fraction of palm oil with a high melting point, is mixed with vanaspati. Institutional consumers — restaurants, sweetmeat shops and so on — looking for supplies at bargain prices constitute a ready market, in addition to the poor household consumer buying loose.

It is time the Government tightened the screws on the adulterators. State governments must shed their apathy and bring defaulters to book by enforcing the food law ruthlessly. The deficiencies in the food quality standards that the industry has pointed out should be addressed immediately. The Edible Oil Packaging (Regulation) Order, 1998 should be implemented, to start with, for refined oils and vanaspati. The Ministries of Consumer Affairs and Health can no more remain apathetic to the plight of hapless consumers. Opportunities for adulteration should be plugged. The edible oil import policy and tariff structure deserve a review so as to remove anomalies that encourage misfeasance. The industry and trade associations must evolve a code of conduct for their constituents and follow self-imposed discipline.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Mid-life crisis ahead for call centres?

End food adulteration

Exit agriculture, enter services

Rupee: Will it defy global dollar upswing?

Out of their depth

Credit through post-offices

Credit Policy

Foreign investments

Emerging force

Taxing the candidates