Kerala Tips

Whenever our local fish seller used to come to our colony, we could see an army of house flies converging on his bike. But recently something strange happened. I could no longer see any army of houseflies. They are still there in and around the house, but they seem scared to touch the fish! Well, these days fish is treated with chemicals to preserve it longer and the houseflies are smarter than us to detect it!

Food adulteration levels is very scary in Kerala. The people affected usually are poor since they can’t afford high end branded stuff. For example, when you buy tea from the open market, it invariably contains iron powder which is added to increase the weight. Also bakeries and hotels are adding banned substances to give color and taste to food. A popular additive is Aginomoto which is used to enhance the taste of the food. Prolonged use of this is known to cause cancer and other diseases.  Chilly powder is mixed with brick powder since they cannot be distinguished and you don’t need a medical degree to know that it is sure to cause serious health problems.

Another common problem is the rampant use of pesticides and preservatives. For example, Carbide is used to ripen mangoes uniformly and its exposure also can cause cancer and other deadly health problems. Similarly grapes and oranges are so much exposed to pesticides that there is a very high risk of pesticides getting into the digestive system. This causes diseases and kidney failure.

Perhaps the most scary is the adulteration of milk. Traditionally people used to add water to milk and fortunately it had no side effects. But nowadays people have started adding chemicals along with water to hide the changes.  It is difficult to know the extent of milk adulteration and the possible impact on our health.

Cancer is becoming the biggest killer disease in Kerala and one possible reason is the large scale food adulteration and the widespread use of pesticides. Naturally a portion of these pesticides end up in the drinking water.

Consumers are in a big dilemma. They don’t have any choice. There is no easy way to detect adulteration.

How to minimize the health risks of adulteration?

As you can guess, there is no way to be completely safe from adulteration. Kerala government has a Prevention of Food Adulteration Act(1954) in place and food inspectors are supposed enforce it. But widespread corruption means that its effectiveness is minimal. The act is used mainly to get bribe from shop keepers and hotel owners.

You can take the following steps to minimize the risk of food adulteration,

• Buy only well known branded items. Of course, not everyone can afford it.
• For vegetables and milk, try sourcing it from your neighborhood. The risks are much lesser. Better still, grow vegetables in your garden!
• For fruits such as grapes ensure that you put them in water for a few hours and wash it thoroughly before eating it.
• Minimize eating in hotels, it is easier said than done!
• Avoid local colas, they are very dangerous. Trust me, it is better to use Coca Cola or Pepsi or a well known brand. Of course, the best thing is avoid them altogether.
• Don’t buy mangoes or oranges if all the fruits in the crate/basket has uniform color. I try to buy mangoes from neighborhood during season.

All of us are slowly dying due to the adulteration and most of us will die due to cancer in the coming years and by the time we realize it it will be too late.

Further Reading

• Chinese melamine scandal (milk adulteration)
• Adulterated baby food seized in Trivandrum - According to health experts, artificial coloring in baby foods retards the development of an infant’s brain and internal organs and tampers with metabolic activity. Scary stuff!

Click here to receive latest site updates in your email!

Related Entries

• Tackling food shortage and traffic problems - kerala way
• Torture of the Kerala sports team
• Kerala wins Ashden Award for Food Security (Green Oscar)
• Technopark - inside stories
• Global/US Recession to hit Kerala hard