AS PER a news report in The New Nation on Tuesday rampant use of chemical pesticides, fertilizers and hormones are posing serious threats to safe food production and public health causing different diseases including cancer. But since most people are unaware about the harmful effect of chemicals and hormones, they remain open to become affected by dreaded diseases with severe consequences. This we say not to push the panic button but make people alert. The studies suggest that chemicals are recklessly and deliberately added to most of our food items making them harmful and poisoning ourselves, day after day.
When carbide comes in contact with moisture, it produces acetylene gas that acts like ethylene accelerating the ripening process; but is inadvisable because calcium carbide has carcinogenic (cancer causing) properties. So, the use of this chemical for ripening fruits is prohibited in India, Pakistan, Malaysia and others. A study titled “Effects of Using Chemicals and Hormones for Cultivation and Marketing of Vegetables and Bananas”, conducted by National Food Policy Capacity Strengthening Programme in 2009, revealed around 74 percent of banana wholesalers use ripening chemical agents. Farmers spray insecticides and their toxicity affects environment, aquatic life and food chain from weeks to years after application. Chemical fertilizers also severely affect soil health to turn it into barren land; pests become immune to preventive agents and detrimental to agriculture and ecosystem. Chemical additives in food such as calcium carbide and formalin often cause diseases like cancer, kidney damage, diabetes, jaundice and liver cirrhosis.
Despite pure food ordinance, there is hardly any effort to enforce the law and prevent the use of such harmful chemical agents in food production, preservation and marketing. There is also no initiative to set up food courts and food testing centers in every district as per an order of Bangladesh Supreme Court in 2009. Given the political will, it will not be very difficult to control this nefarious business carried out by a handful of traders who are out to kill people by slow poisoning simply for minting money. Meanwhile the government is leg dragging to implement the Safe Food Act 2013 to fight adulteration and protect public health. The law could not be enforced owing to a delay in framing new rules to implement the law.
What is more important is that the government must ban unnecessary import of pesticides and other chemicals now commercially marketed in the country endangering public health. It is better to regulate the import to avoid the risk to food and public health from indiscriminate use of these toxicant agents now farmers and shop owners use to manifold increase in food production and its preservation. The world is moving towards pesticide-free organic farming, we should also create the awareness about it for production and marketing intoxicant food.
