Food Adulteration

Introduction

Food adulteration consists of a large number of practices, e.g., mixing,substitution, concealing the quality, putting up decomposed food for sale,misbranding or giving false labels and addition of toxicants.

The ignorance of people being not able to recognize food that is wholesome versusadulterated has made such adulteration possible. Food adulteration can be:

Economic adulteration implies that food is adulterated by dilution (addingwater to milk), removal (removing 11% fat from food and using 2% fat), orusing substitutes (using Equal for sugar).

Adulteration also results from addition of foreign material to food, such asstones in rice to compensate for weight. This addition increases the volume oftrade.

Adulteration can also occur because of the type of package used for holdingfood. Labeling should disclose the integrity of the food, and if adulterated foodis labeled as one that is not, then unaware consumers are injured or harmed byconsuming such food. Packaging and labeling are more recent developments,and newer laws have been instituted to discourage food adulteration.

Notable incidents in Adulteration

In 1987, Beech-Nut paid $2.2 million in fines for violating the Federal Food,Drug, and Cosmetic Act by selling artificially flavoured sugar water as apple juice.

In 1997, ConAgra Foods pled guilty to federal criminal charges that one of itsunits illegally sprayed water on stored grain to increase its weight and value.

In 2007, samples of wheat gluten mixed with melamine, presumably to produceartificially inflated results from common tests for protein content, werediscovered in many U.S. pet food brands, as well as in human food supply.

In 2008, significant portions of China's milk supply were found to have beencontaminated with melamine. Infant formula produced from melamine-taintedmilk killed at least six children and were believed to have harmed thousands ofothers.

In 2012, a study in India conducted by the Food Safety Standards Authority ofIndia (FSSAI) across 33 states found that milk in India is adulterated withdetergent, fat and even urea, as well diluted with water. Of the 1791 randomsamples from 33 states, just 31.5% of the samples tested (565) conformed to theFSSAI standards while the rest 1226 (68.4%) failed the test.

Melamine and Chinese Milk Supply, 2008

FSSAI and Milk Adulteration, 2012

Lathyrism

• Lathyrism or neurolathyrism is a neurological disease of humans and domestic animals, caused by eating certain legumes of the genus Lathyrus.

• This problem is mainly associated with Lathyrus sativus (also known as Grass pea, Kesari Dhal, Khesari Dhal or Almorta) and to a lesser degree with Lathyrus cicera, Lathyrus ochrus and Lathyrus clymenum containing the toxin ODAP.

• The lathyrism resulting from the ingestion of Lathyrus odoratus seeds (sweet peas) is often referred to as odoratism or osteolathyrism, which is caused by a different toxin (beta-aminopropionitrile) that affects the linking of collagen, a protein of connective tissues.

Metanil Yellow Malachite Green

Copper Red White Soda

Food Policy & Food Laws

Food policy is the area of public policy concerning howfood is produced, processed, distributed, and purchased.It includes decision-making around production andprocessing techniques, marketing, availability, utilizationand consumption of food in the interest of meeting orfurthering social objectives.

Food laws are made to ensure that food that is producedor marketed is unadulterated. It also establishesguidelines on how food should be produced andmarketed. In addition, food laws outline how foodmanufacturers should be prosecuted if they violate thefood laws.

Food Laws

Food laws in our country

The Indian Parliament has recently passed the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 that overrides all other food related laws.Such as;

Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954

Fruit Products Order,1955

Meat Food Products Order ,1973;

Vegetable Oil Products (Control) Order, 1947

Edible Oils Packaging (Regulation) Order 1988

Solvent Extracted Oil, De- Oiled Meal and Edible Flour (Control) Order, 1967,

Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992 etc. are repealed after commencement of FSS Act, 2006.

Food Laws

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has been established under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006

which consolidates various acts & orders that have hitherto handled food related issues in various Ministries and Departments.

FSSAI has been created for laying down science based standards for articles of food and

to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption.

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Food Laws

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)

Main Activities

Harmonious development of standardization, marking and quality certification

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To provide new thrust to standardization and quality control.

To evolve a national strategy for according recognition to standards and integrating them with growth and development of production and exports.

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the National Standards Body of India, resolves to be the leader in all matters concerning Standardization, Certification and Quality.

Food LawsAGMARK

AGMARK is a

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Quality Certification Mark .

It ensures quality and purity of a product.

The Directorate of Marketing and Inspection enforces the Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marketing) Act, 1937. Under this Act Grade standards are prescribed for agricultural and allied.

It acts as a Third Party Guarantee to Quality Certified.

Quality standards for agricultural commodities are framed based on their intrinsic quality.

Food safety factors are being incorporated in the standards to complete in World Trade.

Evolution of Food Legislation in India

Livestock Importation Act, 1898

Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954

Fruit Products Order, 1955

Meat Food Products Order, 1973

Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992

Vegetable Oil Products (Regulation) Order, 1988

Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006

Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006

FSSAI Structure: Single Reference Point

Food Categories under FSSA, 2006

FSSA, 2006: Highlights

AGMARK

The Directorate of Marketing and Inspection enforcesthe Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marketing) Act,1937. Under this act, grade standards are prescribed foragricultural and allied products like such as pulses,spices, vegetable oils, wheat products, milk products,honey, asafetida, rice, tapioca, tamarind and gram flour.

AGMARK is acting like a third party guarantee and acertification mark that ensures quality and purity of aproduct.

Standards are set keeping international standards inview for obtaining WTO requirements. Certification ofagricultural commodities is carried out for the benefit ofproducer/manufacturer and consumer.

Food Laws

Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954

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•The Act was promulgated by Parliament in 1954 to make provision for the prevention of adulteration of food. Broadly, the PFA Act covers food standards, general procedures for sampling, analysis of food, powers of authorized officers, nature of penalties and other parameters related to food.

•It deals with parameters relating to food additives, preservative, colouring matters, packing & labelling of foods, prohibition & regulations of sales etc. The provisions of PFA Act and Rules are implemented by State Government and local bodies as provided in the rules.

In every case where the milk or milk product is packed Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 is repealed from 05.08.2011by the Central Government as per the Food Safety and Standards Act,2006.