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Every week, at least one food safety concern pops up leaving everyone concerned about their health. No matter how hard people are trying, they continue to find adulteration, food being stored in unhygienic spaces, and toxic substances in spices in a country where food is worshipped and even offered to Gods.
The recent reports indicating microplastics in salt or sugar have shaken people to their core. Invisible to the naked eye, these elements not only exist in the environment or float over the ocean but have also made their way into the human body via food. It is even more dangerous for parents to know that their babies are ingesting these toxic elements.
To tackle the same issue, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has launched a new project through which a team of experts will work on detecting and analysing microplastics in food products. According to reports, this initiative was launched in March 2024, and it was titled ‘Micro-and Nano-Plastics as Emerging Food Contaminants: Establishing Validated Methodologies and Understanding the Prevalence in Different Food Matrices’.
How Is FSSAI Tackling Microplastics Contaminating Foods?
FSSAI has introduced this initiative to develop methods to detect the contamination of food. These methods will detect and identify nano-plastics and microplastics in edible products across India. This will also help the experts find the data on how many consumers are exposed to it and if it has been affecting their health in any way.
The intra- and inter-laboratory experiments will reveal more data to help the team understand how serious the contamination is and what can be done to identify it at the early stage and avoid penetrating the human body.
Other leading institutions of India are also involved in this initiative, including the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, the ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Technology in Kochi, and the CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research in Lucknow. The team is working on this with more dedication and urgency since the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has released a report indicating the presence of these toxic microplastics in everyday food items like sugar and salt.
The official statement by FSSAI read, “While the report underscores the global prevalence of microplastics, it also emphasises the need for more robust data to fully understand the implications for human health and safety, particularly in the Indian context.”
This initiative is aimed at enhancing food security in India. The findings from the research will be used to guide regulatory bodies and take action to safeguard public health.
