Pesticides in food

The use and overuse of pesticides and other chemical insecticides on food crops and food items has become a very serious public health issue in the country in recent years. The use and overuse of pesticides and other chemical insecticides on food crops and food items, as well as the as well as the artificial colouring, coating, and waxing of pulses, food grains, and other items, has been leading to a high incidence of deaths across the country. Consumption of food laden with pesticides has become the primary and most important cause of cancer and several other fatal ailments across the country. While government measures have been seen as disgustingly poor in controlling the use of pesticides in food crops, the matter has been taken to the Supreme Court in the form of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by an environmentalist and lawyer called Akash Vashishtha, in response to which the apex court issued notices to the Union Government and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) last week. As prominently reported by this newspaper in its Sunday edition, the petitioner has claimed that there is an abject failure of the FSSAI to curb and control pesticides and ensure food safety, and that there is a direct scientific and medical correlation between pesticides and cancers, which are on the rise in the country. The petitioner has also specifically pointed out the use and overuse of pesticides, chemical insecticides, artificial colorings, coatings, and waxings on pulses, food grains, and other food items as significant concerns leading to a high number of deaths in the country. While the PIL is in the overall context of the country, it can be said in the same vein that the use and overuse of pesticides, fertiliser, and hazardous chemicals is also equally alarming in Assam, particularly in vegetables produced in certain pockets of the state. Any layperson can identify the difference in taste and quality between vegetables grown by indigenous farmers and those grown by immigrant farmers. It is for this reason that Bhutan imposed a ban on importing vegetables and other farm produce from Assam a few years ago. It is only the concerned authorities in Assam that have not been able to do anything proactive, for reasons best known to them.