Maggi controversy
It’s good that quality consciousness has arrived in our in area of edibles. Huge uproar in media
regarding harmful ingredients in Maggi resulting into ban order by govt. of
India. But there are certain fundamental questions which need to be answered-
- - Do
we have comprehensive laws related to safety standards of edibles in our
country?
- - Do
we have adequate infrastructure to enforce such standards?
- - Is
our legal system competent enough to punish defaulters in a reasonable time?
- - Is
the punishment or fine adequate to act as a deterrence so as to stop
reoccurrence of such events?
Now after banning Maggi can we have a
guarantee by govt. that no product more harmful than Maggi is being sold in the
country? If answer to it is no then why only Maggi? Do we have enough food
inspectors in the country which regularly take samples of all edibles
throughout the country? Do we have adequate testing laboratories where such
samples can be checked on a regular basis? Do such laboratories follow standard
operating procedures for testing? Maggi
is a product which is not consumed by majority of the population but what about
milk which is consumed by majority of the population on daily basis. It is well
known fact that to get pure milk in our country is very rare. But has govt done
anything about it. Everyone knows about harmful chemicals used to ripen the
fruits openly but nothing is being done. Vegetables irrigated with sewerage
water are a known fact but nothing is being done. How many cases of food adulteration
are registered in the country and of those how many actually result into conviction. During
festival seasons everyone is aware about the quality of sweets made and the
type of raw material used for them but rarely do we see any action from govt.
Even spurious lifesaving drugs are quite common. What about testing and
standards laid for packaged drinking water? Is water supplied by municipalities
upto the mark?
So by banning Maggi is problem of food
safety solved? Govt should seriously think about these issues and invest heavily
in this sector rather than working for populist measures for votes (which
rarely get converted into actual votes otherwise a ruling party would never had
lost any election)
