Beware of Food That Can Kill

On a visit to the Wieliczka salt mine in Krakow, Poland, this author was told salt was called white gold in medieval Europe due to its vital role in food preservation, making salt mines an incredibly rich and strategic asset.

- DR P.S. VENKATESH RAO

The rotten meat scandal in Kashmir, exposed during regular food safety inspections this month, highlighted poor monitoring, dishonest suppliers, and betrayal of Kashmiris' trust in the meat used in their favourite wazwan, kebabs, and mutton curries.

Food scandals involve fraud (deception about food quality, composition, adulteration, mislabelling, misrepresenting origin, or selling products as "organic" when they are not), contamination, or poor hygiene and safety practices during production, processing, or handling in the food chain, and have serious consequences for public health and the food industry.

Killer Food Scandals: Well-known killer food scandals include 6 deaths and 294,000 ill children due to Chinese milk and infant formula contaminated with melamine in 2008, nine deaths and at least 714 people ill due to food poisoning from Salmonella typhimurium bacteria contaminated peanut products supplied by the Peanut Corporation of America in late 2008 and early 2009, more than 30 deaths and more than 3000 sick due to E. coli bacteria contaminated Egyptian fenugreek seeds, in Europe in 2011, 33 deaths, and 147 people ill due to melons infected with Listeria bacteria, in USA in 2011, one fatality and hundreds hospitalized in serious condition due to two brands of ready-to-eat salads containing canned beans contaminated with Clostridium botulinum bacteria toxin in Russia in June 2024. India has experienced numerous deadly cholera epidemics following faecal contamination of food and water due to inadequate sanitation, contaminated water supplies, and open defecation, especially during monsoon seasons.