Food adulteration in Pakistan

Arsim Tariq

The most primary thing for a human is his health, for this is where every dot of his life connects. One would never evoke misery on his life unless it is on purpose, hence it is fair to say that a person would not torment his own health to a dead end.

But unfortunately, this is quite the opposite in Pakistan – predominantly. In my hometown, there is a milk shop, let’s call the owner of that shop with an ‘A’. In recent months, Punjab Food Authority (PFA) sealed A’s shop because of adulterated milk. Notwithstanding the seal, A, remorselessly, continued to sell the milk at the stoop of his shop. Woefully, people of that domain stuck to one’s guns and kept on buying the milk although an official authority of the government sealed the shop. Thus, is it bewildering to state that calling your hatchet man to your threshold is any different from this?

For that matter, there is not much awareness among the public apropos food hazards and its laws and regulations. People incoherently know of the diseases it would cause to their health but they have no certain knowledge of the intensity of the hazards. The low education rate in Pakistan can justify the lack of knowledge among people. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, only one-third of the population attain primary level education and more than half of the population is unaware of the health diseases. In a report conducted by Health Economics & Outcome Research, fifty-seven percent of the patients who took part in the census lacked a basic understanding of their disease.

No wonder why most people did not take the sealing of that shop as a grave matter and continued taking part in affecting their health. To dig deeper into the repercussions, adulterated milk or food could cause diarrhea, heart issues, peptic ulcer, liver failure, food poisoning, kidney issues, eyesight weakening, cancer, typhoid, hepatitis A, skin disease and disturbed digestive system. Hence, is it iniquitous to say that feeding your child adulterated milk or food is a slow poison rather than giving a boost to his growth?

The unscrupulous food vendors are not a case of one in a hundred in Pakistan, for example, on 11 November 2018, two brothers – Ahmed (one and a half-year-old) and Muhammad (five-year-old) – died of food poisoning after dining previous night before their death. A teenager from Karachi died after digesting a burger she ate at ‘Dil Pasand’. Similar is the case of five children from a single-family, died of food poisoning after having dinner at a restaurant on 22 February 2019. However, A’s shop was unsealed after two days. So, along with the lack of awareness among the public, there is a lack of implementation in law and order. Pakistan is facing a dark hour in this domain for years.

Bad-diet and improper food render frustration and torpidity. Foodborne illness also affects mental health which leads to depression, anxiety, and stress. A person’s health is associated with so many extreme elements. For instance, one’s better health will prevent him from going to the hospitals and buying costly medicines, saving him some bucks – which is a big deal given the inflation rate of Pakistan. Another scenario would be a person’s productivity which is directly proportional to the economic success of the country. If a person is ill – physically or mentally –, he can barely pay attention to his work that will eventually lessen his work productivity. Better health will lead to better growth resulting in efficient productivity. This is not a single person’s tale but a majority’s.

If we dwell into our laws, The Punjab Pure Food Ordinance, 1960s rule 23 states: “A person who sells or offers for sale any adulterated food or food which is not in compliance with the provisions of this Ordinance or the rules shall be liable to imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months but which shall not be less than one month and fine which may extend to one million rupees but which shall not be less than one hundred thousand rupees.”For big fishes, rule 23A reads that whoever manufactures, transports or imports adulterated food “shall be liable to imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years but which shall not be less than six months and fine which may extend to two million rupees but which shall not be less than five hundred thousand rupees.” The same penalties or punishments are enlisted in the 22nd rule of 2011’s ordinance – with no significant amendments.

However, a question comes to mind here – are these rules or laws enough to eradicate the enormous amount of food-grafting across the country?

Adding more to the story of A, the shop was sealed multiple times before and reopened, which is a lucid sign that our law does not seem to eradicate the crisis we are facing. Given the effects a food-manipulator is causing, including deaths, is it not fair to pass an ordinance, as we are passing plenty of them recently, of a death sentence against it? They are the biggest murderers of society as they are killing an enormous population by contaminating the food. Should not they deserve death in return? By death, I mean stringent and prominent punishment – as it is now considered an inhumane punishment by human rights wings.

However, an effective bill is in need by the parliament to cure this deadliest epidemic and is it not their prime duty to pass public-favoring bills instead of immoral hooting in the parliament or putting army shoes on the desk in a talk show? For God’s sake. People are already in agonizing suffering and if the law and its implementation stay as powerless as it is now, more people will die – as it is a slow poison giving rise to a slow death.