Friday 8 February 2013

Call it anything but food safety


By Ankush Chibber 07-Feb-2013

Apparently, India’s food safety rules and regulations are just as stringent as those in other, more developed countries. And that’s according to a proper source, one who should know his onions. 

But it’s all a load of rubbish. As a journalist who knows this industry inside and out, when I read this sort of guff, I feel like hitting my head against the wall. Repeatedly. 

At the same time, there are plenty who buy into this incredible self-appropriating myth of security - how many Indian mothers are flashing a smile of relief and reassurance now they have heard the news?
No matter what rubbish we are told, we know the reality. We are Indians. Even we don’t trust what we are given to eat much of the time. But speaking at a conference in Kerala, N Anadavally, a food safety consultant with the United Nations, reassured India’s consuming public that the country’s food safety rules and regulations are just as thorough as you would expect to find in New York, London or Paris.
And of course we should believe her, just like we should believe a cricket commentator when he lauds a young Indian batsman who makes a fifty on a flat track at home against a poor string of medium-pacers. Brilliant job that.

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