The Hindu Business Line : A question of quality

General awareness levels about food quality and food law enforcement agencies remain low in the country, says a study sponsored by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.

IF the public furore over the allegedly high levels of pesticide in carbonated soft drinks and contamination in milk is anything to go by, then the consumer movement in India is surely evolved.

On the other hand, if an interim report on `Food quality literacy and awareness among consumers' — conducted by the Consumer Coordination Council (a coalition of consumer groups), and sponsored by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries — is any indication, then the average consumer in India is far from aware of these issues. And even when awareness about food quality and enforcement agencies does exist among the educated classes, very few actually take up the relevant issues with the authorities.

The study was part of an exercise involving a national campaign on food quality literacy and awareness about enforcement agencies.

The member organisations involved in the exercise were the Consumer Guidance Society of India, the Mumbai Grahak Panchayat, the Consumer Education and Research Society, the National Centre for Human Settlements & Environment, the Consumer Protection Council, the Orissa Consumer Association, and the All India Consumer Council.

Questionnaires were administered to consumers eliciting information on consumer preference, information regarding cooking at home and kitchen conditions, food habits, food safety and food quality awareness, awareness about food safety laws and their enforcement agencies, and the general impression about food safety and food quality awareness besides suggestions for improvement.

Another questionnaire, developed in consultation with the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, was administered to enforcement agencies eliciting details of their work.

Among the key objectives of the report, according to the Consumer Coordination Council, was evaluation of the extent of awareness among consumers regarding food quality as also the legal provisions and the machinery available for ensuring such quality and to report on the consumer's perception in this regard. Other objectives of the study were to understand and identify the existing barriers for delivery of quality products to consumers, involvement of leading consumer organisations in the country with building up a national campaign on food quality literacy, to develop an initiative and an action plan to launch a national campaign for creating awareness among consumers for demanding food quality products, and to create effective communicating tools and promotional literature on food quality awareness by involving stakeholders.

The study was conducted in seven cities across four regions — North (Delhi), West (Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bhopal), East (Cuttack, Rourkela), and South (Pondicherry). The sample size was about 400 people. The study adopted the method of random sampling.

As far as consumer preference was concerned, across all the locations surveyed, consumers preferred to buy packaged food products rather than loose. The preference for packaged food was found to be attributable to quality, quantity and packaging details such as date of manufacture. Further, in all locations, over 90 per cent consumers preferred to buy fresh food products over processed foods. According to the respondents, processed foods were perceived either as not being fresh or as containing harmful preservatives.

In terms of food safety and quality awareness among consumers, the need for food quality was found to be satisfactory in the cities covered, given that the majority of consumers in all locations surveyed said they assessed the quality of loose and processed food before buying. Manufacturing details of the food product, followed by an indication of an ISI/Agmark, and quality of seal were the attributes that consumers were most concerned about. Meanwhile, in six locations, the percentage of consumers who were aware that they could lodge complaints under the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act was found to be higher than those who were not. However, the level of awareness about the procedures for registering complaints was not found to be as high as awareness about lodging complaints under the PFA Act.

Awareness levels about food safety laws, rules and enforcement agencies were low. Consumers were found to be comparatively more aware about the PFA Act and Standard of Weights & Measures (for packaged commodities) Rules, than rules pertaining to packaging and labelling rules of foods products. However, the percentage in both cases was found to be low. Judging by the same criteria, a majority of the respondents surveyed stated that they were aware that under most of the above laws, enforcement agencies could entertain complaints and samples for analysis. However, here is the downside — in four locations (Delhi, Ahmedabad, Cuttack and Rourkela) — no consumer was found to have acted on the basis of food quality legislations in four locations and rules. In fact, just about six to 10 per cent of the consumers took up relevant issues with the enforcement agencies in the remaining cities.

Meanwhile, the role of implementing agencies in food quality and safety remains by and large mixed. For example, the number of prosecution cases regarding food products was found to be the highest in Ahmedabad (234) during the year 2002-03. The highest number of inspections of licensed establishments also took place in Ahmedabad (11,140) while Bhopal recorded the lowest. As for defective samples detected by food inspectors, the highest share was found in Cuttack (at 18.75 per cent), followed by Bhopal (at 14 per cent), and Ahmedabad (at 12.58 per cent).

Further, up to 90 per cent of the households contacted said that members of families themselves did the cooking. The most frequently used methods for ensuring safe drinking water were found to be boiling water, using water filters, and using water purifiers.

The study concludes on the note that immediate steps need to be taken to generate mass awareness about the food quality. The study suggests that exposure to students in schools and colleges about these issues be increased, pamphlets and literature in local languages that are easy to read be circulated on a mass scale, and seminars and workshops be organised to involve people not only about legal provisions regarding food safety and food laws, but also in regard to the role and functions of the enforcing agencies.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
Biting the bullet

In hot water, but cool!

Acquiring trouble

A question of quality

Experience over exclusivity?

A very good paper but a very bad habit

All-pervasive branding

All about light bulbs!