Kerala - Kochi   

Food poisoning: action needed on all fronts

Instances of food poisoning are on the rise in several parts of Kerala, and even expensive hotels do not seem to be exempt. A related issue is the presence of pesticide residue in foodstuff, consequent on their indiscriminate use in farms. The general level of hygiene and safety awareness in the State is high and improving still, yet the risk persists. What is behind this? What are the steps needed to improve the situation? Our readers respond:

A host of issues

Usually, food poisoning is confirmable only by quick symptoms, simultaneously in many people, due to eating at the same place; not in other instances of slow reactions that can rarely be traced to their true causes.

The latter cases are regarded, at best as flatulence, at worst, indigestion. Accordingly, those situations of food-poisoning noticed - feasts, community meals etc., - constitute only a tiny fraction of the malady.

Space, the lack of it, and haste, together create problems in these situations compromising hygiene and quality. Another risk factor is the changing preference for a non-vegetarian diet, universally manifesting as multi/mixed cuisine restaurants and eateries.

Pesticides as the cause for food-poisoning are better considered separately because, even properly cooked food, except of truly organic origin, will not be immune to their effects and moreover, these effects are observable only in the longer term.

Not merely the menu, let caterers modernise their kitchens, including mobile ones, by investing more in space-saving, cost-effective sterilising equipment capable of making their dishes safely palatable.

Devraj Sambasivan
Alappuzha

Go organic

The exponential increase in the use of pesticides, many of them banned, by profit-driven cultivators has poisoned the food cycle itself. Kerala is highly dependent on other States for vegetables and other essential commodities and are compelled to use these products with little awareness about the harmful effects of these unethical activities.

For avoiding the decay of vegetables during transportation and storage, farmers add furadan in excess dose, which has adverse effects on human health.

It is worse in the case of costly fruits such as apple owing to competition. The chemicals used in apple make it remain intact even exposing to atmosphere for more than two days. Stringent rules must be introduced by the Government to curb the use of these harmful chemicals and must promote use of organic pesticides.

Efficient system to check the quality of food products must be developed and violators must be penalised.

People must be prudent enough to take precautions to avoid food poisoning. Drenching vegetables in salt water for two to three hours will help in reducing the intensity of chemicals.

Manu Melwin Joy
Thrissur

Eat cautiously

It is a general belief that no one poisons food deliberately. The most hygiene and health conscious people of Kerala simply fall prey to this belief. For producers and manufacturers of food products, profits is the only aim and they resort to any means to achieve it, even by endangering the lives of unsuspecting consumers.

Interestingly, human body is immune to certain amount of poison. This immunity comes partly from our being able to take in, on a regular basis, certain amount of poison in the form of pesticides, preservatives and additives.

The problem is that the pesticides and fertilizers our farmers use are simply being carried into our kitchens.

We have to develop a healthy eating habit. Vegetables should be washed in salt water and fresh water before they are cooked or stored. There should be a foolproof Government system to oversee the hygiene of hotels and eateries and finally, enforce strict rules and regulations on manufacturers and mass food producers who use slow-killers in their products.

Jayaprakash A.P.
Kottayam

Create awareness

It is high time the people of Kerala realised the ill-effects of indiscriminate use of pesticides in farms as revealed in the recent food poisoning cases in the State. Excessive use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers to boost production of agricultural outputs has adversely affected the health of the people. People living around cashew plantations in Kasaragod district are still suffering from several ailments such as stunted growth and physical disability, which are mainly found among children, including new-born.

Deliberate attempt of some vested interests to take maximum advantage with minimum effort and expense is believed to be the main reason for all the misdeeds. To accomplish this aim they do not care about the well-being of the fellow men and use pesticides lavishly for production of foodstuffs. Although the people are aware of the importance of hygiene and safety they are unable to contain the malpractices by themselves. It is for the government machinery to take lead in this regard. Various departments such as agriculture, civil supplies and public health should work towards changing the situation in favour of common people. These departments, with the cooperation of local bodies, voluntary organisations and farmers' societies, should launch concerted effort to teach farmers on how to produce foodstuffs organically. Leading the farmers to demonstration farms run by the agricultural university seems to be effective in this respect. The officials should often visit the farms and give instructions on scientific farming with judicious use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. They should collect samples of produces for testing scientifically to ascertain quality.

V. Viswanathan Nambiar
Thrissur

Ensure standards

The quality of food items in the hotels in the State seldom satisfies the specifications prescribed by the health officials. Occasional raids on a few hotels reveal stale foodstuff, unclean utensils and unhygienic surroundings. Nothing is heard about the final outcome of the action taken against them, once reports and photographs regarding them appear in the media. Of course, the alacrity and vigilance on the part of the health authorities have a lot to do with the quality improvement in our eateries.

A refreshing experience in the murky situation is the emergence of Kudumbasree hotels run by women groups.

The food has quality as well as quantity and is comparatively cheap. If customers promote such ventures, profiteering hoteliers will be forced to rethink their policy. At the same time, vigilant public intervention will pay off in maintaining a certain standard in hotels. Corrupt officials have to be punished and replaced with upright ones. Our health sector will certainly look up, if our hotels turn out to be `centres of excellence' in the preparation and service of eatables. Laxity on our part demands a heavy price.

N.K. Vijayan
Kizhakkambalam

Conduct raids

The Health authorities should conduct raids on hotels, bakeries and other such shops to see that hygienic items are sold there. If anything is found wrong necessary action should be taken against the shopkeepers. Food adulteration and food poisoning are different. The vegetables available in the market are grown by using pesticides. The Government should see to it that all these malpractices are stopped at the earliest.

S.N. Thiruvazhiode
Kochi

Punish culprits

The Health Department and local authorities should ensure that there are no cases of food poisoning reports in the State. The food inspectors and other staff should conduct regular and surprise checks in hotels, schools, hospitals and canteens to uncover any instances of food adulteration and if any fault is found, take immediate action against those who are behind this.

By adulterating food products unscrupulous elements are trying to make a quick buck. Trace them at any cost and punish them without any failure, so that we can save the lives of many.

P. Sankaranarayanan
Kochi

Too little, too late

There is a dearth of devoted public servants. The State Government and the various agencies concerned awake only after some unfortunate events occur. This has been the practice for quite a long time.

Health officials conduct raids on hotels and shops when the owners refuse to pay bribe and the matter is given wide publicity in the media. The recent seizure of spurious cool drinks from shops near Museum is a best example to cite. This was done following casualties owing to food poisoning.

Accountability must be fixed on health officials for such recurring incidents. Hefty fines and imprisonment must be imposed on shop owners and hotels that violate norms. Corrupt officials should not be entrusted with the task of inspection.

T.V.R. Potti
Thiruvananthapuram

Lack of accountability

Food poisoning goes on in a large scale in hotels of all categories where checking of kitchen and foodstuff is non-existent. So also in hospitals where innocent people have no option other than taking sub-standard food.

Similar is the case in railway stations, where large numbers of unsuspecting travellers take food from the canteen without any fear of food poisoning.

Even the rice supplied from Government depots is not free from adulteration. There should be a system to check food preparation in hotels and for periodic inspection of food grain shops. There is no point in collecting samples of food after some people are hospitalised.

Hospital expenditure in food poisoning cases should be collected from the hotels and grain shops concerned and inspectors who failed to discharge their duties.

K.P. Karunakaran Nair
Thiruvananthapuram

Stop pesticide use

Most of the areas of the State have been reclaimed inter alia for cultivation of food crops, cash crops, commercial crops, plantations and creation of infrastructure, housing purposes and for industrial and commercial establishments. Consequently, the extent of bushes, pastures, marshes and forests has decreased.

The environment has undergone much change. Therefore, creatures such as insects, worms, grasshoppers and birds have to bank on food crops for their existence.

In order to prevent insects from destroying crops, farmers spray pesticides. Moreover, chemical substances are injected into plants and produce.

Wholesale fruit merchants use chemicals to make the products more colourful and keep the same without decaying. When these foodstuffs are consumed, health problems occur.

The approach to these problems of serious nature should be made at the macro-level. However, as a first step, awareness of the risk involved in indiscriminate use of pesticides/chemicals in farms and produce should be created among farmers and merchants. The Government should initiate suitable steps to safeguard the interests of the public.

S. Paul Dhason
Thiruvananthapuram

Inspect frequently

The much-talked-about hygiene awareness and practices in Kerala are confined to the individual and his domestic environment only. Cleanliness is given the go by in public places and establishments such as hotels and kitchens in marriage halls and schools.

This is evident as cases of food poisoning occur only rarely in individual homes. Microbes and toxins emanating from contaminated food cause poisoning. Contamination can occur in any part of the food chain, but is caused mostly on account of improper handling, storage and cooking of food. Most of the micro-organisms cannot survive in high as well as low temperatures.

Therefore, proper heating and cooking of these foods and refrigeration of uncooked food can prevent food contamination to a considerable extent.

Adulterated food also causes poisoning. The Food Safety Standards Bill 2005 proposed to be introduced in Parliament should provide for stringent punishment for adulteration.

Local bodies have a very important role in preventing food poisoning.

Enforcement should be toned up by increasing the frequency of inspection by health inspectors.

However, these checks should be done in an impartial and transparent manner to monitor compliance with food safety standards and care has to be taken to ensure that these inspections do not lead to corrupt or intimidatory practices.

V.N. Mukundrajan
Thiruvananthapuram

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