October 20, 2003	Monday	Sha'aban 23, 1424

The business of adulteration in milk, beverages, oil, ghee, spices, flour and other food products has assumed massive proportions in the country. It has indeed become a full-time business with those involved in it, being least concerned with the severe health risks they are passing on to consumers.

According to the food department officials, adulterated eatables are commonly being provided to citizens, especially in big cities. A district government found 90 per cent of milk samples to be adulterated with large quantity of unhygienic and often untreated water, whereas beverages and fruit juices sold in loose form are also included in the list of adulterated items. Even fake beverage bottles of international brands are available in the market.

Apart from adulteration in food items, other items of low quality are being provided in the market for sale. Again according to the same officials, the business of producing and selling adulterated spices, confectionery, honey and bakery items is thriving. Out of some 24,244 samples of various food items that were collected, 11,832 were found adulterated.The main cause of the rise in adultration is that the existing laws are not being implemented and the concerned authorities seem to be least interested in checking this menace.

Recently the federal cabinet recommended death penalty for adulteration. The federal government has decided to establish special courts to try the cases of adulteration in food and medicines and rigorous imprisonment up to 25 years and a fine of up to Rs one million for the offender.

What is needed is the impartial implementation of laws. While the government executes its policy, consumers can protect themselves against adulterated items by preferring to buy food and beverage items in sealed packings. Packaged food can be kept safely for a much longer period and it eliminates the possibility of adulteration and the presence of disease-causing organisms.

Obviously, packaged food is more expensive than loosely supplied food. But the small difference is nothing compared to serious health risks of loose food items. This is especially true for milk, which is consumed in every household. Packaged milk is ultra-heat treated that ensures destruction of all bacteria and disease-causing organisms. Loose milk is not only adulterated with water of dubious quality, it is also exposed to dust and light, both of which cause rapid deterioration.

There are many arguments in favour of the aseptic technology, which ensures that at the crucial post production packing stage, the food items are handled hygienically and aseptically. Secondly, we know that all food deteriorates when exposed to the air and UV light. Packaged food cartons being air tight and impermeable to light, protect packed items from deterioration caused by the elements. What is more, such protection if for up to 6 months at room temperature, eliminating the need for costly refrigeration.

Unlike other packaging materials like plastic or glass, packaged food cartons are also bio-degradable and thus environment-friendly. The cartons are easily recyclable to produce a variety of goods of daily use. For example tissue boxes, kitchen and toilet rolls and even a type of chipboard, which can be used to make litter bins and furniture.

The fact that cartons are supplied flattened to manufacturers of food and beverage items mean that energy and space is saved in transportation and storage. In a developing country like Pakistan, to attain higher energy output has always been a problem.

From an environmental point of view, energy saving and energy recovery can be as good a way of dealing with the problem as creating new energy. Used packaged food cartons can be effectively used for energy recovery as well, as each ton of used cartons contains about as much energy as half a ton of oil. According to an estimate a one-litre empty carton contains enough energy to burn a 40W light bulb for more than one hour. Thus the cartons are a valuable source of fuel for modern waste-to-energy power plants.

A very important additional benefit of recycling used cartons to produce electricity is that problem of disposing of waste is solved simultaneously.