83% food sold on Char Dham route found adulterated

DEHRADUN: Rampant adulteration is prevalent in the food items sold on the routes leading to the Char Dham. The Society of Pollution & Environmental Conservation (SPEC), a Dehradun-based NGO which conducts an annual survey on the quality of food being sold during the yatra -- which is a high point of the U'khand tourist economy, said that they found adulteration in almost 83% of the food items collected by their team.Rishikesh registered 90% adulteration, Haridwar 85% while food items collected from Devprayag were 70% adulterated.
Brij Mohan Sharma, secretary of SPEC, said, “The NGO conducted a food adulteration campaign between May and mid-August in Char Dham sites, during which we collected 1,685 samples of 36 food items. Of these, 1,392 samples were found to be adulterated. Adulteration in food items is spreading like an epidemic and the state government is not doing anything about it.”
He said the collected samples were analysed in a laboratory supported by the department of science & technology in Delhi. “100% adulteration was found in basic items such as mustard oil, laddu, jalebi and batasha. Roli used in all the temples was found synthetic and it contained lead. Vinegar sold along the route was found to be 100% synthetic. Quite shockingly, even honey offered to deities was also synthetic,” he said.
According to SPEC report, 78% food samples were found to be adulterated on the Gangotri-Yamnotri route, while 85% food items were adulterated on the Badrinath-Kedarnath route. Of some notable places on the yatra route, Ghangaria reported 95% adulteration, Joshimath (92%), Rishikesh (90%), Gopeshwar (90%), Rudrapryag (88%), Gaurikund (88%), Karnprayag (86%), Haridwar (85%), Badrinath (83%), Kedarnath (76%) and Devprayag (75%).
According to the report, spices were one of the major source of adulteration. Over-all, 84% of spice samples collected and analysed were found to be adulterated. According to Sharma, out of 585 samples of spices, 489 were found to be spurious. Samples of red chilli powder reported the highest 93% adulteration, followed by coriander powder (92%), turmeric powder (91%), sesame (90%), garam masala (88%), asafetida (86%), saffron (85%), cloves (83%), green cardamom (80%), black pepper (68%), cinnamon (65%) and cumin (63%).
“Regular consumption of adulterated food causes bronchial problems, glaucoma and other eye diseases, ulcer and even cancer. Food additives, like artificial colours, can cause various diseases, like skin allergies. Lead chromate added to turmeric powder and spices can cause anaemia, paralysis, brain damage and abortions,” said Sharma.