Hey folks,
Mid-November. The US election process was wrapped up, but the world was still mulling over it. Just then, another international event was taking place in a West African nation. On an issue which is perhaps more relevant to us than Mr Barack Obama’s future policies. The World Health Organisation had gathered politicians, medics and scientists from everywhere in Mali to take stock of exactly how many people – across the planet – were falling ill or dying due to consumption of unsafe food. And to decide how to deal with the chillingly high numbers.
Of course, we all know that in India thousands get affected every year by bacteria, parasite, or virus infected food. We read about them in newspapers and gasp over the horrible visuals on television. We also have a host of food laws, the latest being the very ambitious Food Safety and Standards Bill, 2005 – still pending in the Parliament – which aims to make available “safe and wholesome food for human consumption”. But, the scary thing is that we do not really know how many actually fall sick or die… no one has ever taken up the Herculean task of counting!
In a tropical country like ours, it is particularly critical to know. Because here pests and toxins multiply faster, and parasites flourish. During floods, droughts and famines people do not throw away food stuff, even if they are rotten! Yes, we need to begin counting now.
– Pandit Gobar Ganesh
E-mail:
panditji@cseindia.org
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