The people of Jammu and Kashmir are understandably terrified of consuming adulterated food, as there is hardly any food product that is not at risk of adulteration. Unscrupulous traders are constantly looking for ways to increase their profits illegally by adding cheap contaminants to food. The government agencies responsible for inspecting food products seem to have either gone dormant or are doing very little to stop this menace.
Take the case of the present festive season. A report about a team from the Food Safety wing of the Drug and Food Control Organization (DFCO) Jammu destroying two quintals of substandard cheese (Paneer) in Jammu City has been circulating on social media and in newspapers. Naturally, the team of officials was expecting praise from citizens and their superiors. However, does this action really deserve praise? After all, three establishments were involved in storing and selling the spurious milk product. And after a local testing lab confirmed that the product was substandard, the team destroyed the entire stock without bothering to file an FIR under the relevant sections of law to bring the culprits to justice.
By only destroying the adulterated paneer, which is of insignificant cost to the errant traders, the team has done the job half-heartedly, or one could say, in name only. If the DFCO team was sincere in its action a proper FIR would have been registered in the case under the concerned Food Adulteration Act to teach the lesson to culprits as the loss of two quintals of adulterated Paneer is in fact no loss at all.
Going by the whole gamut, it seems that the action by the DFCO team was a routine affair with no serious intention to end the adulteration practice by the wrongful food business operators.
The authorities in the Union Territory need to develop effective mechanisms to monitor those who are responsible for checking adulteration in milk products. The availability of all milk products and milk all the time is a major concern. If investigated, it is likely that investigators will find that the milk products available in the market far exceed the total milk production in the region, proving that adulteration is rampant.
