Rule of law

Rule of law

There are a number of safety issues with the fast-growing food industry. And it is not only adults who may be affected; even the unborn child is at risk. "Studies note that there is a consistent relationship between unhealthy diet and the emergence of a range of chronic non-infectious diseases -- including coronary heart disease, cerebro-vascular disease, cancers, diabetes mellitus, dental and various bone and joint diseases," write researchers Ulla Uusitalo Pirjo Pietinen and Pekka Puska, in a paper entitled Dietary transition in developing countries: Challenges for chronic disease prevention. According to the Baker hypothesis, also called thrifty phenotype hypothesis, poor foetal and infant growth due to malnutrition "programmes" the development of non-communicable diseases (ncd) risk factors like hypertension and impaired glucose tolerance. Processed food that is rich in fat and sugar -- burgers, pizzas and soft drinks, for example -- are mostly responsible for this.

who's strategy on diet, physical activity and health identifies food as a major factor for the rise of ncds. "New choices have replaced traditional diet. While some of the choices enhance diet, others are high in fats, sugar and salt content. They come in a highly processed form and contain higher levels of protein, sourced from animal products. They are also advertised on a large scale, thereby contributing to changing people's expectations and displacing healthier foods," reads a report of the Centre for Food Policy, City University, London.

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"This 'Diet and Nutrition Transition' may be partly explained by the changing choices that the consumer faces. It is also a reflection of the economic realignment of the food chain, from production to consumption. Between 1988 and 1997, foreign direct investment in the food industry increased from us $743 million to more than us $2.1 billion in Asia and from us $222 million to us $3.3 billion in Latin America. This is higher than even investments in agriculture," it adds.

"Economic development with recent technological innovations and modern marketing techniques has modified dietary preferences, and consequently, led to major changes in the composition of diet. There has been a shift towards high-fat, refined carbohydrates and low-fibre diet," the paper authored by Uusitalo, Pietinen and Puska reports. This change in diet took place in the industrialised world over a period of 200 years. According to researchers, however, dietary changes in developing countries are taking place in a span of decades, bringing with it a number of health issues to be concerned about (see box: Unwanted flab).

Growing demand for food has also led to the creation of industrial agriculture. Seasonal crops are grown all round the year, under controlled conditions. Crops, fruits and vegetables are grown in alien agro-climatic conditions through intensive use of irrigation, chemical pesticides and fertilisers. Processing leads to addition of various chemical and synthetic inputs for a variety of reasons like colouring, preservation or just for enhancing taste. All these additives come with their own set of problems (see box: Unwrapped). Regulations have been re-engineered the world over to counter these threats.

The threat
Threats are of two kinds -- acute and chronic. Most of the existing laws address the acute impacts, for example, the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act. Acute impacts are visible health problems that occur within a short while after consuming unsafe food. This includes food-borne diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites, chemicals and toxins.

However, it is important to focus on the chronic threats as well, a realisation that may be gradually seeping in for they are much more dangerous. Chronic threats are caused by tiny doses of chemicals like pesticides, heavy metals, antibiotics and industrial chemicals present in the food over a period of time. Very small doses of these invisible chemicals often accumulate and trigger major health problems. Cancer, asthma, blood pressure, heart diseases, neurological disorder, reproductive and fertility disorders are attributed to exposure of such chemicals through food. In industrialised countries, new regulations have been introduced, like the us Food Quality Protection Act, 1996. Existing regulations are also being amended to check the increasing chronic impacts of industrial agriculture.

Regulating these toxins requires a completely different strategy. Standards for chronic impacts must be based on a safety concept called "acceptable daily intake (adi)". adi is the maximum quantity of a chemical or a toxin that a person can be exposed to every day without any health risk. It is defined on the basis of body weight, which means that a specified amount of chemical per kg of bodyweight can be safely eaten every day. This exposure can come from food, water and other environmental media. Pregnant women and children, of course, require the extra-safety factor.

To enable such regulations, it is imperative that end product standards are set for toxins for processed as well as unprocessed food. While setting these standards, the entire food basket of a particular country or region has to be taken into consideration.

The standards of pesticide, heavy metals and chemicals for food commodities have to be such that the total intake of these chemicals from all the food commodities does not exceed the adi of either a child or an adult. 12jav.net12jav.net