There is no proper responsible response from the Standards Institution and the government regarding poisonous coconut oil. One story after another
What I, as a doctor, can say is that the safety of food, that is, the nutrition of the food and the degree to which the food is non-toxic is very important in this regard. As soon as we are nourished by a food we need to get rid of any disease or trouble because of that food. Many people in Sri Lanka do not have a proper understanding of this. Consumers are unaware of this, and for some time through merchants or other ignorance, or perhaps fraud, we may have incorporated toxins and harmful substances into our food.
It is in this context that a big controversy arises with the news that the venomous toxin called aflatoxin has been found in a stock of coconut oil. At a press conference held, especially the Food Safety Division of the Ministry of Health, it was made very clear that this aflatoxin test or the test on coconut oil is not something that happened yesterday but has been going on for a long time. Also, the panel agreed with the Chief of Customs that large quantities of coconut oil were imported to Sri Lanka after September last year. At the same time most of the aflatoxins are coming to this country. But the fact that there is an oil extract associated with grains such as aflatoxin coconut oil, both scientifically and medically, is not something that was discovered yesterday. That’s something we’ve known for a long time. These are especially produced by the fungus Asphyllus flavus. Peanuts are the main ingredient. Soybeans and oilseeds contain this fungus. It can cause us to ingest toxins called aflatoxins. For example, there is a medical scientific publication published in 2019 that found that 38% of the samples they tested on the market contained aflatoxin.
Can a food substance containing such toxic chemicals come under a responsible country?
This incident tells us that there is a possibility of toxic chemicals coming into a country like ours. Not only inland but also in our shops now. Is that possible? This tells the story of how far we have failed as a country. That our systems are not working properly. Someone who has been to Australia knows that even an acquaintance cannot send a little food. If sent, it should be subjected to several tests, sealed, labeled and packaged. Or can not be sent at all. Similarly, those countries have very strict security systems. Especially for food. It is impossible to say whether this is really the way to come to Sri Lanka or not. If we look, there is a food security division in particular. They work with experts and government officials. They do these things as part of their daily routine. But we need to see if the benefits of doing so flow to the public. It seems that there is a lot of confusion at the moment as to whether the coconut oil was bought, sent back or released to the shops. Public confidence has been shattered. The public is asking us, those who know, whether this coconut oil is good or edible.
Now, does anyone believe that there is no poisonous coconut oil in the market? Do not believe. People can’t believe it. Moko does not build that trust. What I saw a while ago was a woman in the oil section of the supermarket staring at the oil shelves as if meditating. It shows that there is no trust. Without the public confidence in the mechanism that protects the people, even the existence of such institutions would not make sense.
In a developed state, I do not think that bosses like the standard institution can hold those positions. The other side of the coin is whether the average businessman has a moral right to bring in such toxic products.
That’s really where the problem lies. Here is a question between responsibility and accountability. In order for this to happen, what is the punishment for the mistake made by an institution or an individual? If a businessman imports something unsuitable for consumption, that businessman should be subject to some kind of long-term penalty. There should be a system that prohibits the importation of things like food for fifteen or twenty years, especially if it imports things that cause health problems that affect the general public. That is where the discipline comes from. Or they bring onions that are not fit for consumption today and if they are suddenly raided they will bring them dried tomorrow. Or bring lentils the next day. Maybe a little man gets caught up in this method of punishment when he brings something. But a big businessman gets away with it easily. Why do we give these SLS or ISO? Let the public know that an institution takes responsibility for this. But if we do not believe that an institution will take that responsibility even if it says so, there is no point in the existence of such an institution if one fails to believe. Then the whole system crashes.
In the case of Nuwara Eliya, the farmer maintains a little lame for himself and does not use any poison on it. Does this story mean that there is this problem in the food we produce in the country?
Although there has been a great deal of discussion in the country recently about food safety and detoxification, I think we as the public still do not stand up for the need for a healthier diet. We, as the people, must demand that the food we receive be received and secured by the government and the relevant institutions in general. That is the responsibility of a government. That is the responsibility of a government that serves the people. For example, if we buy 10 mangoes from a shop, how many of them can we eat when we take them home? We can’t eat even five most of the time. The average price of Carthacolamban mango is around two hundred rupees. An apple costs 80 rupees. So if you take it, not a single apple grows in Sri Lanka. Apples are available in supermarkets in Sri Lanka at any time of the day. There are various rumors about apples, but if we take five apples, most of the time we can eat all five apples. Then Apple producing countries will use advanced technology to export it. So through that, that food has become safer. Alphonsu mango is available in the market in Sri Lanka. They come with a brand name. So, if you take the cart Columbine mango and the Alphonse mango, you have to say that the Alphonse mango is better in terms of special safety and quality. Because it has been manufactured and packaged under a certain standardization. Then why don’t we ask you to give us a Carthaginian mango. We are a nation that does not care so much about the quality of anything but food. My view is that the public should always stand up for it.
If a food product does not have those relevant ingredients and things, it is a counterfeit. It should become a banned commodity. The law of the land should be strengthened to that level. For example, there is a way of naming the preservatives in certain foods, the flavors within a certain frame. Now how many of us look at the flavors, colors and preservatives in a packet when we eat processed food? Do we care the least about it? Aware. One of the decisions taken by the Ministry of Health during the last government without politics was to mark the amount of sugar in the food, even though it is completely absent, paying attention to the amount of sugar in many foods. Because too much sugar is bad for the body. So we have to ask for things like that.
If what the manufacturer says is not in the food and the food is in addition to what the manufacturer says, there should be strong opposition to it. Now, for example, there are advertisements for milk powder, vitamins and trace elements that we as doctors have never heard of in our lives. They have not been found in the world yet. They also say different things like brain development, bone growth. So we can’t allow different things like this to happen. So, if the law is not brought by the government, the people should get it right. It cannot be done. Many people think that milk powder given to babies has a special brain development. In fact, they often give a different name to an ingredient in a dairy product. But it is the same as the others.
There is a public lawsuit about Astra giving to little ones. But none of us know that. It is not known whether the company acted in accordance with that decision.
That is a good example, I think a case filed in the Anuradhapura District Court. I do not know who put it. But I’m very happy. There has been one citizen who thinks seriously about the rights of that citizen. It is because of that citizen that we all get the same benefit. One citizen was able to do that process. There are many such examples but this is a very popular one. There are similar scams perpetrated by merchants against consumers. We have ears that have not heard them. So that cannot be allowed. I’ve seen a lot of people make noise on social media when there’s other contaminants in those food packets. Some people throw away one and eat another. It is the responsibility of the citizen to appear in those cases.