Paragraph | Food Adulteration

A substance added to a food-item to reduce its quality in order to increase its quantity is called as an adulterant. This act of addition of the adulterant in food-items is known as food adulteration. The addition of adulterant may be intentional or accidental. But generally the adulterant addition is intentional. The major reason for the intentional addition of these adulterants is for increasing the profit margin on the expense of the health of the public or consumer. Food adulteration has become a new problem in the country. People do not bother what they are having as foods even they know that it may cause them much harm. Some adulterants enter via agricultural steps, as they are not cleaned well. These are visible adulterants like stones, leaves, soil, sand and dust to name a few. The consumer can clean them and this makes it less harmful. Other adulterants that are intentionally added are invisible or they are made invisible by astutely camouflaging with the color or texture. They are generally harmful for the health and most of them lead to serious health problems like cancer. However, there are hardly any food items from fish to meat, vegetables to milk; biscuits to juice that are not adulterated in one way or another. The hotels and restaurants are also serving these poisonous and unhealthy menus. Different reports show that adulterated foods are causing serious diseases including diarrhea and dysentery round the year. And adulterant reduces the quality of the food and this weakens the health of the one who consumes them, thereby increasing the cost for healthcare. Regular intake of an adulterated food can lead to many health problems. From curable to incurable disorders and diseases can ruin one’s lifestyle and life as well. Recently, the government and general public have been much worried about this issue. The government has set mobile courts to detect and punish dishonest people. And at least some steps are taken by the conscious people of the country. For example, they are trying to avoid some of these foods. But it is not enough. Both the government and public have to work together in order to eradicate this problem. Whatever remains the question and whatever the answer is, understood is the fact is that it''s a social crime and many are in need of good health. Food adulteration increases the burden of health in the society. So it must be removed from the society.