Experts warn adulterated food is slow poison: Commissioner Food Safety

Srinagar, Dec 14: Amid growing public concern over the safety of food items in J&K, Commissioner J&K Food and Drug Control Organisation, Smita Sethi, on Sunday, said the department was maintaining strict vigilance to safeguard public health.

Referring to complaints related to eggs, bottled water, meat, cheese, and other edible products, she said market surveillance had been intensified, and any food business operator found violating food safety standards and norms was being dealt with firmly.

Recent detections of substandard, contaminated, and adulterated food products across J&K have highlighted two parallel realities – persistent lapses in food safety and quality, and heightened enforcement by the Food Safety Department, J&K.

Talking to Greater Kashmir, Sethi said that the department, despite the shortage of manpower, was actively checking food businesses, factories, wholesalers and retailers.

She urged people to remain calm and not to heed rumours.

“There is a lot of unrest about eggs nowadays after a particular brand of eggs was flagged for containing alleged dangerous antibiotic metabolites. Let me assure the people that eggs of that brand are not available here, and we have already begun sending eggs from J&K for testing,” Sethi said.

However, she cautioned people to remain alert regarding the use of synthetic colours in food products, especially meat products.

“We had an inter-departmental meeting with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah some time ago. In the meeting, the doctors and experts from various fields agreed on one thing – the use of dangerous synthetic colours and some other chemicals in edibles is a slow poison and is perhaps one of the biggest health concerns we need to address,” she said. “These colours are used randomly, and their use in cooked food is a strong suspect of being carcinogenic.”

In August this year, lab tests revealed the presence of banned colours Carmosine, Tartrazine, and others in food items available in Kashmir markets.

The Food Safety Department issued a public notice prohibiting synthetic food colours in cooked items.

“The presence of these colours is a public hazard,” Sethi said. She said that the department had cracked down and revealed the massive gaps in meat and poultry storage and transport, as a result of which nearly 12,000 kg of substandard meat was seized and destroyed in J&K.

Sethi said hundreds of inspections were carried out across the districts and violations were flagged and compliance sought, and enforced.

Sethi said the proactive work of the department revealed substandard ghee, cheese, sweets, and other edibles in the Jammu region. “We are working at the grassroots also, and the fact that we have been able to detect a high number of food safety violations here in J&K is primarily because we have not stopped at anything. We are continuously checking, sampling, and testing,” she said.