Visakhapatnam: In an effort to protect public health and rebuild consumer trust, Visakhapatnam MP M. Sribharat brought the critical issue of food adulteration to the forefront during a session in Parliament on Monday.Highlighting its pervasive nature, he emphasised that adulteration affects every stage of the food supply chain, from production and storage to processing and packaging, posing grave risk to public health.Citing data from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the MP revealed that nearly 20 per cent of food samples tested were found adulterated. He pointed to systemic challenges, including a weak regulatory framework, insufficient penalties and lack of food testing laboratories, as key contributors to the crisis.Sribharat proposed a comprehensive strategy to combat this issue. He called for strengthening regulatory systems to ensure stricter oversight, imposing harsher penalties to deter adulteration practices, offering GST benefits to companies adhering to high food safety standards and expanding the number of food testing laboratories beyond the current 242 and equipping them with advanced technology to detect contaminants effectively.“The health of our citizens is non-negotiable. Food adulteration poses severe health risks and erodes public trust in our food systems,” the MP said.
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