Consumer rights

LAHORE: It is a painful fact that food adulteration is accepted by our society as a norm and not a criminal act. In fact, the society accepts all malpractices like smuggling and hoarding as normal acts without resentment or protest.

Households complain about inflation and high rates of edibles. But a family procuring milk from a milkman at their doorstep knows and admonishes him for diluting milk with water. Despite this realisation, they continue to agree with the increase in rates whenever the milkman insists. They willingly buy adulterated products. There is no resistance.

We can safely say that when official food inflation is 20 percent, it is practically over 25 percent if adulteration in different edibles is factored in. Some of the common adulterated foods are milk and milk products, atta, edible oils, cereals, condiments (whole and ground), pulses, coffee, tea, confectionery, baking powder, non-alcoholic beverages, vinegar, besan and curry powder.

Alum and chalk are sometimes added to bread to whiten it, while for stale flour, ammonium carbonate is added to disguise its sour taste. Mashed potatoes, sawdust and Plaster of Paris are also added to increase the weight of the bread.

The deterioration of governance level during the past eight years has added to the miseries of the consumers that pay high rates without being sure of the quality of food they consume. Pakistan lags far behind even the regional countries in regulation of the sales of food items.

The opening of the economy and availability of imported processed food has highlighted the stark difference between the foods and daily use of imported items and the similar products produced locally. Food-preservatives have a very extensive use, which often constitutes adulteration. Salt is the classic preservative, but is seldom classified as an adulterant.

Salicylic, benzoic, and boric acids, and their sodium salts, formaldehyde, ammonium fluoride, sulphurous acid and its salts are among the principal preservatives.

Many of these appear to be innocuous, but there is danger that the continued use of food preserved by these agents may be injurious. Some preservatives have been conclusively shown to be injurious when used for long periods.

The list goes on and consumers now consider some additives healthy. Coal-tar colours are employed a great deal; pickles and canned vegetables are sometimes coloured green with copper salts; butter is made more yellow by anatta; turmeric is used in mustard and some cereal preparations. Apples are the basis for many jellies, which are coloured too.

In confectionery, dangerous colours, such as chrome yellow, Prussian blue, copper and arsenic compounds are employed. Yellow and orange-coloured sweets are to be suspected as well, while artificial flavouring compounds are employed in the concoction of fruit syrups, especially those used for soda water.

Reforming manufacturers would require transparent and strict regulation. But this will not solve the issue as most processed foods are prepared and sold by the informal sector that successfully avoids regulators.

We in fact need a mass awareness campaign in this regard. A well-planned and appealing awareness campaign should be run on all electronic channels as a part of their corporate social responsibility. The ill effects of adulterants must be clearly pointed out. When consumers know about the injuries caused by adulterants they would avoid using adulterated food items.