Ritika
Sweets sold at a shop in the city
– Photo: Amar Ujala
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As soon as the festival of Holi approaches, people are busy shopping. But a little carelessness can harm the health. Actually, from sweets to ice cream, soft drinks and spices, harmful colors are found. That’s why food items should be bought only after checking.
On the festival of Holi, there is a lot of sale of sweets, phulvari, soft drinks. Two years after the effect of Corona reduced, the market is looking very bright. Shopkeepers do not want to leave any stone unturned to capitalize on this opportunity. The adulterants have also become active even before the arrival of the festival. Harmful colors are being used in many food items. In such a situation, people are at risk of kidney, liver damage to cancer due to the use of these foods.
This is how adulteration happens
From sweets, ice cream, chocolates, soft drinks to spices, harmful colors are used. These colors are of two types. bitumen (edible) and natural (paint). Only bitumen colors are allowed to be added to food items. Red, yellow, green and blue colors are important in this. It is of two types acidic and alkaline. The use of all other acidic and alkaline colors is prohibited. However, now chemicals are being added to bitumen colors as well. For example, soluble bitumen color like Sudan 293 is mixed in crushed red chillies, so that garbage, pebbles, saw dust etc. can be hidden.
Adulteration of colors in foods affects diarrhea and intelligence. Adulterated food is a slow poison. This has adverse effects on various organs of the body. Long-term use has a life-threatening risk of cancer. – Dr. Varun Chowdhary, Physician, Bagla District Hospital
