Sunaina Malik
Instantaneously after taking birth, the foremost thing which a child requires, is his mother’s milk. Milk of his mother gives a firm persistence to a child’s life. Contrary to this, if that mother feeds slow poison to the child then the child would move towards his death not life. Similar is the case with the consumers of Mother India. We Indians are purchasing eatables from the market in order to gratify our appetite. But in return we are getting dreadful diseases. It would not be erroneous to say here that, we are not eating them but these eatables are ingesting us by producing appalling diseases in us. Diseases are caused due to the occurrence of lots of venomous adulterants in them.
Recently raised hue and cry over the presence of Lead and Monosodium Glutamate in the taste maker of Maggi noodles, has also put a big question mark on the purity and trustworthiness of all the other products available in the market. Irony is that in spite of knowing the presence of lethal chemicals in Maggi masala Nestle company has been advertising Maggi as best breakfast for small children for a long time. This is not the only product found unhygienic but there is a long list of food products which are diluted with pollutants. Following are the eatables along with their adulterants
Sweets
As we all know that sweets are favourite to all, but friends this most liked product is not robust for consumption, as these are infected with chalk, urea, caustic soda, skimmed milk. These products are used in milk during the preparation of sweets. In addition to this Khoya is adulterated with paper, refined oil and skimmed milk products. Moving ahead silver topping over the sweets is now replaced with aluminum toppings. Synthetic colours, which are oftenally used to give diverse colours to sweets, actually contain carbon and heavy metals. Rearches have found that ingestion of sweets adulterated with above mentioned chemicals cause asthma, sever stomach infection and food poisoning. If one consumes these infected sweets for a bit longer time, it also leads to cancer.
Milk
Milk is the basic need of every person especially children. Researchers have found that in order to prolong the life of milk and milk products, dairy owners had been using a cocktail of chemicals in it. Consumption of these chemicals damages our kidneys and liver. Story never ends here, dairy owners even go up to the extent of using hair bleach (Hydrogen peroxide) in milk, to prolong life of milk products. Doctors say that even short time consumption of Hydrogen peroxide causes gastroentritus and also spoils liver and kidney.
Fruits
Fruit industry is also not untouched with innumerable adulterants. As we all know fruits are perishable so in order to ensure proper marketing of the yield, fruit owners and vendors pick un-ripened fruits and use a chemical called calcium carbide inside fruits packs. This calcium carbide releases acetylene gas as a byproduct which causes heating effect thus turn unripe fruits in to fully ripe. But as we all know if we challenge nature in its work, nature would definitely harm us in return similarly acetylene gas affects our nervous system and causes nervous disorder.
Vegetables
In a study conducted by Kerala Agriculture University, hazardous levels of pesticides have been found in many vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, small red onion, curry leaves, green chilli,-etc.
In short we are literally consuming poison. Here is a list of vegetables and chemicals found in them. Bringal -Hepachlor, Cabbage–Cypermethrin, Okra–Heptachlor, Rice–chlorfenvinfos, Banana–Chlorodan, Cauliflower–Aldrin, Apple–Diclorvas. Health experts say that these pesticides are neuron toxins effecting our nervous system.
Edible Oils
Perilous type of trans-fats are present in our edible oils. These trans-fats are responsible for grave ailments like diabetes and sever kind of heart diseases. In addition to this, pesticides are also known as hormone disruptors. These hormone disruptors increase the number of hormonal diseases like hypothyroid, polycystic ovaries and diabetes.
From the above discussion, it is clearly evident that because of inhalation of contaminated food products, our body is infected with risky diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart, kidney and liver failure, high blood pressure and nervous break down.
The monster of food adulteration is growing with every passing hour. We all have to join hand to perish this monstrous growth from human dwelling by adopting following ways.
The first and foremost step to be taken is that, we all have to make sure that no product should be released in the market before proper testing in laboratories.
Govt. should mount individual nurseries, Dairy farms, poultry farms in every city of India. This will condense the use of preservatives and ripening agents on eatables because city production will be consumed with in the city and there would remain no need to import the fruits and vegetables infected with preservatives and ripening agents from other states.
In spite of spending crores of money over the cure of dreadful diseases, we should invest money over home made Nurseries, poultry farms and Dairy farms so that our children may get pure vegetables, milk, meat and eggs.
Manufacturing of eatables in factories should be telecast on special TV channels, so that consumers get consciousness about the products used in the manufacturing of eatables and sanitary environment of our factories.
In olden days though there was less production of eatables but those products were unadulterated and excellent for health. Today we have ample quantity of every thing, but tainted. Now it is up to you to decide, whether you crave quantity or quality.
In the end, I would like to say that do not purchase diseases for your children in the form of contaminated fruits, vegetables and other eatables.
(E mail sunainamalik786@gmail.com)