The National Assembly of Pakistan’s Monitoring Committee of Human Rights met in July 2010 at the Parliament House and focused on finalizing future guidelines and strategy to curb food adulteration in the country. The Committee expressed sorrow over the situation in which people of Pakistan could not dream of having pure and hygienic water, milk, milk products, meat and other edibles as they are the most adulterated items. Adulteration and contamination in edibles especially beverages, bottled water, cooking oil/ghee, spices, food colour, tea, sweeteners like sugar, sweetmeats and bakery products, milk and milk products and fruit and vegetable products remain a constant threat to the health of the citizens of Pakistan.
The Committee in its observations said that milk and water remain the most adulterated food items and that no city or locality of the country can be considered free from the presence and open sale of adulterated edibles. People are suffering from serious health threats arising with increasing adulteration in food items. Nutritionists say that use of substandard bottled water and adulterated milk, which contained water from ponds, could cause diarrhoea and dysentery while use of thickeners can cause cancer.
To download the full report click here