SYNOPSIS ON FOOD

ADULTREATION AND CONTROL

INTRODUCTION:

 Food is one of the basic necessities for sustenance of life. Pure, fresh and healthy diet is most essential for the health of the people. It is no wonder to say that community health is national wealth.

Food adulteration, act of intentionally debasing the quality of food offered for sale either by the admixture or substitution of inferior substances or by the removal of some valuable ingredient. The Greek and Roman classics contain allusions to wine makers and dealers who coloured and flavored their wine. In England as early as the 13th cent., bakers cheapened their wares or scanted the weight, and lawmakers for the first time made an effort to prevent fraudulent dealings on the part of butchers and brewers. In Great Britain in the 18th and early 19th cent., coffee, tea, and cocoa were placed under protection laws by Parliament, passed not so much in the interest of the consumer as to keep up internal revenues.

About the middle of the 19th cent. chemical and microscopal knowledge had reached the stage that food substances could be analyzed, and the subject of food adulteration began to be studied from the standpoint of the rights and welfare of the consumer.

Adulteration of food-stuffs was so rampant, widespread and persistent that nothing short of a somewhat drastic remedy in the form of a comprehensive legislation became the need of the hour. To check this kind of anti-social evil a concerted and determined onslaught was launched by the Government by introduction of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Bill in the Parliament to herald an era of much needed hope and relief for the consumers at large. This act defined food adulteration and the misbranding of products.

In India Prevention of Food Adulteration Programme has been developed to ensure safe food for the consumers. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in India ensures that consumers get safe food. The legislation called "Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954" was drafted for this purpose. The first law to regulate the quality of food was made in the country 1899. Up till 1954 the states made their own food laws and there were substantial differences in the rules and specifications of the food. A legislation called Prevention of Food adulteration Act (PFA) was endorsed in the year 1954 for making uniformity in food laws all over India. It came into effect from 15 June, 1955.However the newly notified Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006, does not seem to be effective in curbing adulteration of food articles as is the case with previous Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954.The major role of Central Government is as an advisory in its implementation.Food Quality Control Services: In India there is a three-tier system is function for ensuring food quality and food safety. They are the:

Government of India State/UT Governments Local Bodies.

NEED OF THE STUDY:

Adulteration of food is a menace to the society and the perpetrators cannot be let off lightly,

also there has been a upcoming trend of false suit filing against food product manufacturers

by customers for some undue monetary advantage not only in India but globally.

The paper attempt to find out the real picture and causes of increasing mal-practices in food

adulteration.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

A. To generate awareness regarding Food Adulteration practices in India.

B. To examine the reason behind increasing trend in fraudulent practices.

LITERATURE REVIEW:

Sahara India (16 Aug, 2012) There is an emergence of health consciousness among Indian society with improvement in the living standard of people leading to big organisation like Sahara India coming up with a FMCG retail venture into the food and grocery industry of India offering unadulterated quality food consumables.

Govt. Plans crackdown on Roadside Food stalls (11 Mar, 2013) Fast food has become

more popular among people nowadays because it's easily available. Different varieties of fast

food are not only tasty but easy to carry as well. But these street food items prove to be really

harmful to the person eating them. As per the new direction of Food and Safety Department

all the food business operators should get their licenses under the Food Safety and Standards

Act from the state food safety commissioner curbing a control over the quality of food.

Sandra Hoffmann (July 2010), “Food Safety Policy and Economics”

This paper provides an overview of developments in food safety policy in major industrial

countries and of economic analysis of this policy. It describes the elements of a risk-based,

farm-to-fork food safety system as it is emerging in OECD countries. The goal of the paper

is to provide a nontechnical introduction to food safety policy and economics for

students, economists and others interested in food safety policy.

Devinder Sharma (Oct 2011), “India: Where Food Adulteration is the most paying

business (Synthetic Milk)”Sharma in his article has cited food adulteration has become one of the biggest proliferating

industry. He has also highlighted some common forms of adulteration. He has suggested

ways to common man to help them in fighting against the food adulteration practices besides

lodging complaint with the health department or your local SDM, I has given few suggestions

to control food adulteration:

“Why can’t they form an association of those traders/manufacturers who you can

guarantee to sell quality products? Why can’t they follow the standardised quality

norms spelled out by the health department? This association can vouch for quality and

publicise through media listing reliable shops/outlets in different cities/town. This is the

only way to regain the confidence of the consumers.”

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

1. Type of study: Descriptive Study.

2. Scope of study : Time frame – This study contains 4 months’ time period from Jan 2013 to

April 2013. Location- In Indian Perspective.

3. Data collection : Primary and Secondary data. Primary Data- Questionnaire, surveys, personal interview. Secondary Data- Journal articles, websites, research papers, articles,

newspapers articles, etc.

4. Sampling technique: Convenience Sampling.

5. Target sample: Consumers, Food Inspector.

6. Sample Size: 10

REFERENCES:

Past literature studies.

Google scholar.

FICCI reports.

Newspaper- Times of India, PTI.

Websites- www.businesstoday.com, www.google.com,

food adulteration |

Infoplease.com   http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/society/food-

adulteration.html#ixzz2NZkCoW73 ,

The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 - Introduction Wikipedia.