World Health Day: almost all food sold in India is poisonous

What foods are safe, even for vegetarians who feel secure because they mainly cook at home or visit only reputed restaurants? Apparently, these are getting fewer and fewer.

Unsafe food and water contaminated with faecal matter and chemicals kills more than 2 million people annually, mostly children. The most common sources of contamination are uncooked foods of animal origin, and fruits and vegetables, the World Health Organisation said on the eve of World Health Day today.

WHO has identified as many as 200 food-borne diseases which cause infections or toxicity. Food-borne pathogens such as Salmonella, Escherichia coli, or Campylobacter can cause severe illnesses and death. Chemical contamination can lead to acute poisoning or long-term diseases such as cancer.

Sometimes, the food may be laden with toxins right from the farm or field where it is grown; at other times it may be faulty storage or preparation. The WHO has made the theme for this World Health Day 'Food safety: From farm to plate'.

In countries like India, the use of carcinogenic chemical fertilisers and pesticides is only part of the problem – it is compounded by the fact that faecal matter and other pollutants enter the crops at the growing stage itself. Food grown in water from the sacred Yamuna River has been in the news for this.

Packaged and processed fruits and vegetables are another major culprit. In earlier years, families would go to the local fruit and vegetable market for supplies; but with the burgeoning of shopping malls, people are increasingly buying pre-chopped vegetables.

Today, vegetables are usually cut and put into polystyrene (thermocol) trays, sealed with a thin film of plastic and stored at temperatures between 0 and 4 degrees Celsius.

Local vegetable vendors, too, have followed suit. While they do not have the refrigerating facility, they too sell chopped vegetables and fruits along with their regular wares. These packed vegetables are usually baby corn, broccoli or fruits like pineapples, which are troublesome to cut at home.

But such pre-cut food is dangerous, as are fruits with colour or preservatives added – in India, there are few if any quality checks on these, especially when sold loose.

Various publications have come up with points for the safe handling of food; but in the virtual absence of governmental oversight on the way foods are grown and sold in India, the only answer seems to be to turn into a fakir or sadhu, and not eat at all!