Food is essential for a healthy life. However, the adulteration of food items places the lives of people in danger. Recently the reporting of adulterated food items in Hyderabad has been increasing to a greater level which is distressing both the residents and regulatory authorities.
The adulteration of food items is spread over popular restaurants, supermarkets, small hotels, and roadside vendors. This situation raises apprehensions about the city’s food safety standards.
Last December the NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) released data. It shows that Hyderabad state is ranked first in the country for the number of noted cases of food adulteration. In 2022, across 19 major cities in the country, a total of 291 food adulteration cases were reported. According to the NCRB data Hyderabad alone reported a shocking 246 cases, which is elevating anxiety about the safety of the food in the city.
In recent times the GHMC officials and police executed several crackdowns and confiscated large quantities of adulterated food items. The GHMC officials assert that this is just the tip of the iceberg. The local markets are surged with adulterated food items including milk, sugar, tea, coffee, honey, ice creams, oils, spices, and food grains.
As per the officials, these adulterated food items are being brashly sold in the markets. The Hyderabad city police recently apprehended five fruit vendors in a week for reportedly selling adulterated mangoes. The mangoes were ripened by using chemicals.
On February 24, police officials discovered a huge adulteration racket in Hyderabad where they found a gang producing varied household items from a fake Brooke Bond ‘Red Label’ tea powder to Parachute coconut oil and Surf Excel to Everest spices. Later the raids the authorities disclosed that these items had been sold to supermarkets and stores by using counterfeit brand names.
Shiva Kiran, the vice president of the United Federation of RWAs, exhorted the GHMC authorities to heighten their raids against food products and check their quality. He also advised the people to be aware of these concerns. Considering the situations of food adulteration, people should be conscious of the procedures to detect adulterated food items. The guidelines of FSSAI are:
Watermelon Test: Cut the watermelon into two halves. Take a cotton ball and rub the cotton ball on the inner succulent parts of the watermelon. If the cotton ball that rubbed on the watermelon does not change color then it is unadulterated. If the cotton ball rubbed on the watermelon turns red, then it is adulterated
Green Vegetable Test: Take a cotton piece in liquid paraffin and rub it press the outer green exterior of a small part of the vegetable. If the cotton piece turns green colour then the vegetable is adulterated.
Tea Leaves Test: Take a filter paper, set some tea leaves at the center of the filter paper, and drop water on the pile of tea leaves, drop by drop. The tea leaves are adulterated if color streaks are noticed on the filter paper. The filter paper with adulterated tea leaves shows blackish-brown streaks.
Green Peas Test: Take some green peas in a transparent glass, and add water. Mix well and wait for 30 minutes. The adulterated green peas always turn the water a green color.
Sweet Potato Test: Take a cotton ball soaked in water or vegetable oil and rub the outer exterior of the sweet potato with the cotton ball. The adulterated sweet potato changes the color of the cotton ball that rubbed on its surface.
(Input from various sources)
(Rehash/Lavanya Beeraboina/MSM)
