Lead in the food one eats Dangerous flavouring
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: June 05 2015 -

Dangerous and hazardous to health. This is the reason why a hue and cry has been raised and popular noodles, Maggi, is in the middle of this storm.

Not without reason. Ever since lab testing revealed that the popular brand contains an overdose of monosodium glutamate (A flavouring used to enhance the taste of food) and lead, which are obviously hazardous to one’s health, Maggi has been in the news for all the wrong reasons.

A ban on the popular food item hangs heavy in the air and the Government of Delhi has already gone ahead and banned it for 15 days.

In the eastern region too, the Governments of Assam, Meghalaya, Odisha and West Bengal have already seized samples of the food item and sent them for laboratory testing.

For the moment the lab reports will be awaited but to be sure the reports will come soon and if the samples are found to contain monosodium glutamate and zinc in excess of the permissible limit then anything may happen, including a ban.

The Government of Manipur too seems to have woken up to the reality, if the recent crackdown in the commercial areas of Imphal is anything to go by.

The seized samples will be sent soon for necessary testing is the report that has been received so far.

Difficult to say how the high monosodium glutamate and zinc made their way into packets of Maggi, but this obviously points to the fact that nothing can be taken for granted.

This is all that more so in States like Manipur where the concept of public safety has not really caught on.

On the day that Government officials seized samples of Maggi from the market areas of Imphal, The Sangai Express received the report that foreign particles were found in the tetra pack of a Frooti drink.

Not sure how the Government will respond to this report but it is in many ways an indication of how dangerous can packaged food and drink be here.

Even as Maggi was making it to the news for all the wrong reasons came the report that street food in Delhi contain faecal matter.

The source of the faecal matter has not been spelt out but it could be from anything used in cooking or preparing the food. A damning evidence that public health has been kicked for a toss here.

Already a number of States have started seizing samples of Maggi and sending them to laboratories for necessary testing.

The State Government too seems to have taken cognizance of the issue with officials concerned seizing samples of the noodles from the shops located at the commercial centres of Imphal.

Good thing, however it is still unclear when the State Government will issue a formal notification or come out with an official declaration.

However this should be no reason to take things lightly. In such a scenario, the best option would be to discourage children from eating the food which is in the eye of a storm.

After all it is about health. As everyone knows Maggi is popular and it has made its way into the hearts of numerous children as well as adults.

Till the issue is cleaned up or resolved it would be for the benefits of everyone to stay away from the 2 minute snack.

Fast to cook, good to eat is no doubt a catchy slogan or phrase but it may not be so when it comes at the cost of one’s health.