Preventing fruit adulteration

For many of us, summer comes as the season of fruits as most of our succulent fruits are widely available during this time of the year. However, the tragedy is, often the seasonal fruits we consume with high interest are adulterated with poisonous chemicals. Some unscrupulous farmers and traders are playing with our wellbeing by adulterating fruits to maximise their profits. Artificially ripened mangoes, litchis, bananas, and others by chemicals like carbide are abundant in kitchen markets. We no longer can relish the real taste of most of our foods. From fruits to fish, baby food and vegetables, everything looks like chemically poisonous to us. Though these contaminated fruits are made to seem appetising, the chemicals injected in them cause various fatal and chronic health conditions like cancer, asthma, skin diseases, liver diseases, and kidney failure.

Occasionally, we see some rogue traders being fined by a mobile court, and sentenced to a couple of weeks in jail. But we do not come across any visible change over the adulterated foods. Strict enforcement of laws pertaining to food safety, and regular market monitoring can minimise food adulteration, and the damage that it causes. The authorities concerned should, therefore, take urgent action to create proper monitoring mechanisms to keep an eye on food adulteration of all sorts, and rid the market of food items that are harmful for all of us.

Md. Zillur Rahaman,

Banker and writer,

Satish Sarkar Road,

Gandaria, Dhaka,

zrbbbp@gmail.com