Are you consuming bits of Broomsticks in your daily diet?

Fake cumin seeds, made using broom bits, are being sold in the country.

The sheer imagination of the nefarious mind has enabled penetration of unhealthy substances in the daily consumables. On Tuesday, five men were arrested for supposedly producing and selling "fake cumin seeds", made using broom bits. Broomsticks were cut into tiny pieces and amorally coloured with green or any suitable paints to give it a more realistic look. In a few cases, even the poor quality seed was painted with synthetic paint, and made to re-enter the market at a higher price for its purported "quality". A worrying fact is that a similar incident was recorded in 2015, when a team of Hyderabad police busted a gang adulterating cumin seeds, commonly called as jeera, in a similar fashion.

The food industry in India is beset with the menace of adulteration. Not only we fair poor in the Global Hunger Index ( 102/117 ) but, we have also been living an under nutritious life. Attributed to the surge in demand and coupled with the pervasiveness of common adulterants, it has become a difficult task of putting your hands on what can be termed as 'pure'.

Recently in the form of "annual public laboratory testing reports for the year 2017-18," the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) showed that close to 25percent of the samples analysed were found to be adulterated. The states with the highest level of adulteration, according to the 2017-18 report were Mizoram (61.9%), Rajasthan(45%), Uttar Pradesh (43.9%) and followed by Jharkhand (37.7%).

Other than Jeera, other items vulnerable of adulteration are Milk, Tea/Coffee, Sweets, Honey and Vegetables. We are aware of milk being contaminated with chalk, urea, caustic soda. Owing to this, a plethora of milk-delivery start-up have mushroomed to provide a relatively pure form of milk. Further, Indian festivals are known for the distribution of sweets. Silver film till now remain a primary constituent of the sweets. According to Indian regulations, silver must be 99.9 per cent pure if used as a food ingredient. However, due to silver's rising prices, shopkeepers have started using silver vark that often contains aluminium - again harmful if consumed. Such adulteration becomes responsible for Neurotoxicity in an individual. This occurs with the exposure of artificial toxic substances that alters the regular activity of the nervous system. Even "poor man's protein", legumes haven't been spared from such contamination with incidents of Metanil yellow adulteration - another toxic substance - being in the news, more than ever before. The FSSAI should take notice lest the contamination pervades through the society in a more comprehensive form. Acting in sheer pique cannot be the ideal response to limit this crisis. Food remains an essential aspect of a human's life, and its denial in pure form only undermines our Fundamental Right to Life. The authorities must increase their effectiveness and agility. Population explosion or having a small number of inspectors to limit food adulteration cannot be given as an excuse to a problem that can snowball into a man-made disaster in the future.

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In the part two of this article, learn how you can check and prevent adulteration at your house with a few basic steps.

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