PANAJI
Celebrating the World Consumer Day on Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration and the Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs department impressed on the rights of consumers to keep antibiotics out of food items.
Speaking to an audience of teachers and the general public, FDA director Salim Veljee said times were changing and consumers had the right to choose what was good for them and what wasn’t.
“With food, it is difficult to know what is good and what isn’t. Many use ethical as well as unethical means of improving quantity and quality in the market. In the case of animals, if the substance they are injected with, helps them to develop resistance, when we as consumers eat these products, we too stand the chance of developing resistance,” he said.
As a result, he pointed to the power of the consumer to identify such places and boycott them all together.
Minister for Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Dayanand Mandrekar on his part emphasised the need to be cautious even with fruits and vegetables. “Even the fruits are injected with chemicals to artificially ripen them. This is a dangerous practice,” he said adding that people needed to employ organic means of producing fruits and vegetables.
At the end of the day long discussion, an action plan to prevent antibiotics from entering the food system was decided to be prepared. In it, suggestions from all the stakeholders including the consumer themselves will be considered and drafted. Emphasis was also laid on the need for financial help in implementing the plans that would majorly revolve around awareness programs.
