Food adulteration infiltrates in many hidden forms

Pollution is everywhere, Adulteration is common but You still need to look out for hidden areas for food safety.
No pure food to eat - Veterans in India frequently use phrases boasting their physical capacity thanks to pure Ghee the enhanced butter added with availability of pure food. The regular complaint also finds its place when talking the food elements not being pure now a days.

In a country where food adulteration is rampant and the official machinery completely inept at controlling it, it makes sense to have a basic knowledge of the kinds of adulteration that occurs in our food and water. You have to be alert now with respect to hidden sources of bad food elements too.

Water that is sold as mineral water, is mostly the local water packed and sealed by local marketers. The contamination of these waters is very high as the municipal supply itself is of very poor standards. There is virtually no check on the quality of the water supplied by our municipalities. When travelling in India most of us prefer to buy bottled water as they do not trust the quality of water in the taps.  In reality, you may be drinking unsafe water at an exorbitant price.

The next liquid in our diet is milk that since a long time has been adulterated by adding water. Today, you are not even sure if the white liquid you give your children is milk at all. A huge hue and cry was made when milk in most samples was found to be a concoction of washing powder and all kinds of chemicals. The adulterators lie down low for some time and then come back with  renewed zeal. There is no deterrent for this crime. It is in such a scenario that we must undertake some simple tests that can help us find the adulteration in our food.

Metanil yellow is used in dals to enhance its yellow color. Take any yellow colored powder in lukewarm water and add any mild acid at home , if it turns pink, violet or purple, it confirms the presence of Metanil yellow.  It is considered carcinogenic and harms the stomach too. Green color (Malachite green) that is added to green vegetables is easily detected by placing it over a damp blotting paper. This is again a known carcinogenic. The most surprising is the adulteration in ice-creams where the adulterant is washing powder to add glaze to the ice-cream. The moment you squeeze some lemon juice onto it, it begins to froth confirming the presence of washing powder. This kind of adulteration leads to severe stomach disorders.

A number of other products are also contaminated and sold openly in the market. The yellow dals are mixed with Kesari dal to add volume. Kesari dal is also known to harm our body. Adulteration of black pepper is by adding papaya seeds that can cause damage to our liver and stomach. Coffee powder is adulterated with tamarind seed powder and chicory powder that can cause diarrhea and severe arthritic pain. The health of all of us can be severely affected by the argemone seeds in mustard and hence the mustard oil derived from it.

There seems to be no respite from food adulteration, the various departments are unable to prevent such all pervasive adulteration. The end result is that the citizens have to turn into watchdogs for their own families. There are hardly any arrests and fewer convictions for such grave crimes. As long as corruption and negligence of duty on the part of the concerned departments continue, we will continue to pay through our nose for sub-standard, adulterated and potentially harmful food. 

Magical trend of vegetarianism is so attractive future lifestyle

The plant eating breed is rising!!!
We all eat to live. Our food is a fantastic repertoire of distinct cuisines and extremely variated methods of cooking, spreading from use of the simplest ingredients and methods of preparation to the most exotic and complex methods of finishing and presentation. Though we often find folks who claim to eat only to live, one cannot but wonder at the vast expanse of people who spend conflictingly intriguing amounts of time choosing what to eat, where to eat, how much to eat and so on.

Various factors are determinant of the food habits of people around the world. For people in the tropics and the temperate, moderate consumptions of meat is common. For the ones at the frigid and polar zones of the earth, consumption of meat is certainly much higher as their bodies do require higher amounts of protein and fat to keep up with the temperatures, where, in order to maintain the average temperature of the human body the metabolic rates have to be much higher necessitating higher requirement of energy, which meats undeniably provide. Contemporary lifestyles and food habits have however changed drastically with emphasis on health and nutrition. Studies and research which have been held extensively for ages unmistakably assure us of healthier benefits of vegetarian food in contrast to meat consumption. Our bodies are differently constituted when compared to either carnivorous animals or the herbivorous. We cannot ingest or digest raw meats or most raw vegetables but only a few natural fruits or nuts as our systems are not designed to assimilate the same. However it is easier for us to absorb cooked vegetarian foods faster. A vegetable diet can provide us with richer antioxidants, fibre, minerals, complex carbohydrates poly unsaturated fats and other macro and micro nutrients. Vegetables contain a high range of amino acids which can keep our bodies functioning effectively. Any diet largely consisting of meat certainly contributes to the accumulation of excessive body fat. Though rich in protein, the saturated fats that meats contain, do compromise our health and immune systems. Being less in antioxidants, meats tend to provide minimum dietary benefits in convalescence involving natural sicknesses.

The few reasons why people are turning to vegetarian diets are quite noteworthy.
1. Awareness in general nutrition and health concerns
2. Vast increase in diabetic and cardiovascular diseases
3. Environmental concerns
4. Religious reasons
5. Moral reasons
6. Animal welfare concerns
7. Cost concerns

Irrespective of the reasons why vegetarianism is becoming rampant today, there is definitive evidence of a gradual transformation of people from relishing the tastes of variously and colourfully prepared, elegantly presented carcasses of dead animals, to simple but tasty and highly nutritious vegetarian food. Vegetarians are seldom overweight or obese. Since vegetarian diets contain lesser amount of fats, they are therefore less capable of adding to the adipose tissue around our tummies or the posterior rump. Since a high fat food is the chief reason for the accumulation of dietary cholesterol many folks fear suffering from CHD (Coronary Heart Diseases) which is the obvious outcome of excessive non vegetarian diets compounded with poor exercise. Vegetarian foods are less acidic than meat diets, they cause less flatulence, hence contribute to lesser gastric troubles. Being high in ph levels, meats contribute to high acidity in the gastro intestinal system, which seldom can one escape experiencing, especially when an extensive non vegetarian meal is had. Meat diets generally are more prone to contamination with such bacteria such as Salmonella, Escheri Coli, Campylobacter, Lysteria, Staphylococcus, Shigella etc., which are rampant in raw and semi cooked meats or poorly stored prepared meats. Meats degenerate very quickly in contrast to vegetarian foods due to the presence of such dangerous bacteria. Unless care and caution are exhibited at every level in the processing and preparing of meats till their consumption, there are extensive possibilities of severe food contamination in consumers.

USDA in a survey published in 2006 says that contaminated meat has been responsible for over seventy percent of food poisoning cases in the United States. Now that is staggering!! Our human body requires macro nutrients such as Carbohydrates, Proteins, Fats and micro nutrients such as minerals, fibres, amino acids etc. A proper combination of both of these nutrients helps in a healthy body which can be resistant to a number of diseases. A plant diet consisting of vegetables, roots, leaves, lentils and fruits with a balanced cereal such as rice, wheat or sorghum or corn can provide excellent range of nutrients. While the variety of meats is quite limited and the constitution of most meats being more or less the same, the range that is promised by vegetarian foods is amazingly high. A beautiful garden fresh salad is a treat to the eye with lovely colours, random textures and unique flavours, while the same may not be attributed to a dish of meats. Howsoever it may seem, it is inevitable that health concerns will beat every other in line for everyone, and sooner or later a silent, but a gradual shift from the meat eaters to plant eaters is imminent.

While the concept may not truly be digestible to sworn meat eaters, vegetarian diets are arguably the best for humans, leading us to a healthy and active long life.