About 30 percent of the foods one eats daily are adultered.

What is adulteration ?

Food is adulterated if its quality is lowered or affected by the addition of substnces which are injurious to health or by the removal of substances which are nutritious. Adulterated food is dangerous because it may be toxic and cause paralysis; it may deprive of nutrients essential for proper growth and development; it may even cause blindness, rickets, etc., or if infected, it can give rise to diseases like cholera and typhoid.

Reasons for adulteration:

Very often food is adultered by unscrupulous merchants and traders who want to make a quick profit. But shortages and increasing prices, consumer demands for variety in foods, a lack of awareness, negligence, indifference and lethargy among consumers, and inadequate enforecement of food laws and food safety measures also lead to food adulteration. Milk and milk products, Atta (flour), edible oils, cereals, condiments (whole and ground), pulses, coffee, tea, confectionary, baking powder, non-alcoholicbeverages, vinegar, besan and curry powder, are allfoods which are commonly adultered.

Adulteration can be effectively curbed if consumers take an active role, ‘Consumer interest’ is ensured in three ways:

Legislative and administrative measures by government; self discipline by the trade and industry to ensure fair trade practices; and a strong consumer consciousness.

Laws to check food adulteraion

1. The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (OFA):
Food adulteration is punishable under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954. The Act has been amended in 1976 and a person found guilty of adulterating an article of ood which is non-injurious is a liable to a minimum punishment ofsix months imprisonment which may be extended upto six years with a fine of not less than Rs.1,000. In cases where adultered food is injurious, the punishment can rise to an imprisonment of six years, with a fine of not less than Rs.2,000. However, if an article of food is likely to cause death or harm to the body as would amount to grievious hurt, the imprisonment can extend upto life with a minimum fine of Rs.5,000.

Every state has food analysts and food inspectors. These officers are always ready to help the consumer. Their addresses can be obtained from the Health Officer of the area or from the Directorate of Health Services of the State or the Food and Drugs Department. The Food Inspector collects the samples. One sample is sent to the public analyst and two are sent to the local (health) authority (LHA). The public analyst send s the report to the LHA. If the sample is adulterated, the LHA will institute prosecution against the person concerned (the vendor, manufacturers, distributors, and any other persons nominated). If the person wishes to get a sample tested by the Central Food Laboratory, the LHA will forward the sample to the court within five days. The report is given within thirty days. Besides food inspectors, even a purchaser can have an article of food analysed by public analysts on the payment of the prescribed fee. If the food is found to be adultered, the purchaser is entitled to the refund of the fees paid. Whenever a consumer suspects any defect, it should be reported immediately to the food inspector or sanitary inspector of the area or the health officer concerned. See Table 16 for some simple tests for adulterants in food.

Packed Commodities: With changing times, consumers prefer to buy their requirements in packages because they took more attractive, care is taken in handling and it is easier to select the desired quantity, quality and price. But packaging makes it difficult for the consumer to know, at the time of purchase, anything about the contentsof the package. Some of the common abuses in respect of packaging practices were deceptive packaging, misleading slogans, etc. With a view to curbing these practices the Standards of Weights and Measures (Package) Commodities Rule (1977) were brought into force in 1977.

II. The Monopolies and Restricted Trade Practices Act:

The public interest is protected against monopolistic and restructive trade practices. These are prohibited under the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Act, 1968. The Indian Standards Institutions(ISI), a voluntary scheme, lays down national standards for commodities, materials, practices and processes. A large number of industriesare using the ISI mark as a token of quality.

The Directorate of Agriculture Marketing and Inspection is concerned with commodities graded under Agmark like ghee, gur, potatoes, fruits, etc.

However, effective food control ultimately depends on community support.

III. The Consumer Protection Act, 1986:
This is an act to better protect the interest of consumers, make provision for the establishment of consumer councils and other authorities for the settlement of consumers’ disputes etc. The objective of the Council is to give a higher direction and purpose to the consumer movements in the country and suggest ways and means to protect the interests of the consumers in relation to quality, quantity and price in the best posible manner. In addition, the Council will make a constant reviewto curb unhealthy trebds such as adulteration, short weights and measures, black-marketing and deceptive and misleading advertisements. The Council will also suggest ways and means for promoting self discipline in the trade and industry and for generating awareness among the consumers.

Consumer Organisations: We now have a National Federation of Consumer Organisations supported by the government. In Delhi alone there are five or six such organisations. But the consumer movement in India is still in its infancy. Consumers in other countries, particularly in the USA and in Europe are fairly well organised and they are able to fight effectively to prevent exploitation by big business houses through public interest litigation. In 1960 the International Organisation of Consumers Union (IOCU) was formed in the Hague. The international Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) Geneva, is also well-known. The Federarionis affiliated to these.

	Food Article	Adulterant	Disease	Simple Tests
1.	Edible oil	Argemone oil	Blindness, glaucoma	Add colourless nitric acid to the sample and shake well. Red to reddish brown colour in acid layer would indicate presence of argemone oil.
2.	Milk curd or chenna	Starch	---	Add iodine. A blue colour shows starch.
3.	Dals	Clay, stones gravel, Kesari dal, metanil yellow.	Lathyrism caused by Kesari dal.	Visual examination. Add caused by 50 ml of dilute HCI to dal and keep on simmering water for 15 minutes. If a pink colour develops, it shows kesari dal; metanil yellow, if present, will give similar colour without waiting for simmering.
4.	Turmeric whole and powdered, mixed spices	Lead chromate	Anaemia paralysis brain damage	Shake 5 gm turmeric with 5 ml water and add few drops of HCI, A pink colour shows its presences
5.	Tea leaves	Used tea or gram dal husk with colour		Tea leaves sprinkled on wet filter paper. Pink or red spots on paper show colour
6	Wheat, Bajra, other food grain	Ergot (a fungus), Dhatura	Poisonous	Put some grains in a glass containing 20% salt solution Ergot floats over the surface while sound grains settle down. Dhatura seeds resemble chillies seed with blackish brown colour which can be separated out by close examination.
7.	Alcoholic	Methyl alcohol	Blindness, death

Rights of the Consumer

1. The right to SAFETY, to be protected from hazardous goods.
2. The right to INFORMATION, not to be misled by lack of information or misinformation.
3. The right to FAIR PRICS AND CHOICE, to have access to a variety of products and services and where monopoly prevails, minimum quality at reasonable price.
4. The right to be HEARD, due consideration to be given, to consumer interest while formulting legislative and adminstrative policies.
5. The right to REDRESSAL, to have access to complaint machinery and fair and speedy and fair and speedy compensation procedure.
6. The right to REPRESENT, to be consulted and involved in decisions affecting consumer.
7. The right to CONSUMER EDUCATION, to be a part of the education process.
8. The right to a HEALTHY ENVIORNMENT, that permits the consumer to live in dignity.

How the Consumer is Protected
Remember

• The Packages Commodities Rules protect you against the fradulent practices of unscrupulous manufacturers and traders.
• While buying a pre-packaged commodity, ensure that it bears statutory declarations:
  1. the name of the commodity on the package;
  2. the name and address of the manufacturer/packer;
  3. the net quantity of the commodity in the package;
  4. the month and year in which the commodity is manufactured or pre-packed; and
  5. the sale price of the pre-packed commodity.
• Do not pay more than the price marked on the package.
• It is your right to seek redressal in case of agrievance. You must make a complaint even though the amount involved may be samll.
• Weighing less or measuring less is an offence. Look for the Inspector’s stamp on weights and measures and weighing and measuring instruments.
• While purchasing sweets, do not allow the box to be weighed with the sweets.
• A vigilant consumer is the best safeguard against fraudulent use of weights and measures.
• Buy standard goods and products like those marked with ISI, Agmark or FPO seals.
• Buy from Fair Price Shops, Cooperative Stores and other reputed dealers who follow fair trade practices.

How to Seek Redressal

If the retailer from whom you purchased the prepacked commodity charges you more than the price indicated on the package or you find the contents not in accordnce with the declaration on the package, persuade the retailer to settle your grievance. If persuation fails you must make a complaint to the Inspector of Weights and Measures inthe locality. There are more than 2,500Inspectors protecting the interests of the consumer throuhout the country. The complaint can also be directly sent to the Controller of Weights and Measures in the State/Union Territory.