Food Adulteration Increasing in Tamil Nadu and the Government Has a Plan Called DART

Four hundred twenty thousand people die every year due to food adulteration causes. One out of ten people fall ill due to it also. In Tamil Nadu, it is on the rapid rise in recent years. The Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department is giving DART training for doctors and nurses to identify contaminated food. They will pass on the training to the paramedical staff at all primary centers in Tamil Nadu.

On December 12, one such DART or Detect Adulteration with Rapid Test training was conducted in Coimbatore for 50 doctors and nurses. The experts explained in detail how the food items and hotel food are adulterated and causing huge health problems to the common people. On December 21, the Greater Chennai Corporation family welfare department conducted DART training for medical officers and nurses. It continues across Tamil Nadu to bring awareness of contaminated food and its damages to people's health.

In 2017 the health department announced a WhatsApp number 9444042322 to the public to report adulterated hotel food and other essential supplies. There were 245 complaints against tea powder, spices, sugar, ghee, water can, and many more. Also, 20 % of hotel foods from the roadside food outlet to five-star hotels were found to be contaminated. It increased to 23 % in 2018 and 27 % in 2017.

Adulteration was done initially with cheaper products of the original to increase the quantity. Over time to maximize the profit, even poisonous substances are being added to the food items. Contamination of such substances can cause more than 200 diseases from diarrhea to cancer. It is why the human race is losing 33 million healthy life years.