Beware of Food Adulteration, Poisoning, and Allergies

Food adulteration includes adding harmful substances like toxic dye Metanil yellow to turmeric and pigeon pea (toor dal) food products, Malachite green (MG) and Green 3 dyes to shelled peas and greens, stone in grains, chalk powder in flour, papaya seeds in pepper.

- DR P.S. VENKATESH RAO

Another form of adulteration is the substitution of high-quality ingredients like ghee with cheaper alternatives, like Vanaspati, fish oil, lard (pig fat), and tallow or suet (beef fat), as happened recently with ghee supplied by three diaries for the Tirupati laddoos and in the infamous Jain Shudh Vanaspati case of 1983. Such adulterated ghee is sold in markets and used in hotels, restaurants, and sweets shops. Most eateries and packaged foods manufacturers use cheaper palmolein oil instead of the costlier but healthier vegetable oils. Worse, some street vendors use recycled engine oil for frying. Mislabelling or misleading consumers about food quality and contents is also adulteration.

Food contamination can happen during production, packing, storage, or transportation, such as pesticide and veterinary drug residues, heavy metals, faecal residues, and bird or rodent droppings. Cereals, tubers, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, eggs, meat, seafood, fruit juice, canned food, and protein powders can be contaminated. In October 2003, worms were found in Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolates in Mumbai. Cadbury redesigned the packaging and blamed poor storage at the retailers as the likely cause. In June 2015, Nestle India destroyed approximately 38,000 tonnes of Maggi noodles due to safety concerns about lead and monosodium glutamate (MSG) contamination. Sharp pieces of glass, wood, rock, or metal contaminating food can choke or cause bleeding from internal injury. Heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury can contaminate food from various sources.