THE Department of Commerce has filed cases against 13 companies for selling substandard products. Among the 2,164 companies inspected last year, a majority were let off with a warning despite their not meeting quality standards. The move has given rise to criticism that the government has been lax in prosecuting offenders exposing consumers to health risks. The government has filed charges against Megha Foods Products, Subha Shree Trading, Koshi Gas, Baba Shree Sauce, Samul Group, Kangchenjunga Food and Beverage and Srijana Pure Drinking Water. The other companies facing court action are Greenbery Mineral Water, Quality Drinking Water, Tej Min Jewellery, Urja Ventures, RB Jewellery and New Shakya Abhushan. Similarly, the department has taken action against an individual trader Nitesh Kumar Gupta for tampering with gas cylinders. Selling substandard bottled water, milk, vegetable, fruit and other edibles are among the burning issues that have come into light almost everyday. Besides, artificial price hikes by traders and sales of underweight goods have also hit consumers. According to the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC), over half of the bottled water tested in the last fiscal year were found to be contaminated. Of the 47 water production plants inspected by the department, 25 were found to be selling water unfit for drinking. The department has filed cases against them. DFTQC spokesperson Pramod Koirala said the accused production plants were found to be selling water containing microbes and pesticides. Similarly, they also failed to maintain the prescribed standard for chemicals such as copper, iron, chloride and nitrate and physical components such as turbidity, dissolved solids and pH, according to Koirala. According to the DFTQC, most of the water treatment plants have been operating without a licence. As per the department, only 191 out of over 400 water production plants in the Kathmandu valley have obtained a licence. In the last three months alone, the department sealed 11 water treatment plants in the valley. According to Koirala, they shut down the companies as they were found to be selling water contaminated with coli form along with other harmful microbes. However, the department has allowed half of them to continue selling their products instead of taking any legal action against them. Those sealed recently, however, have remained closed. Rabin Shrestha, business manager of Aqua Minerals Nepal, said that using PET bottles, which are of poor quality for storing drinking water, was also among the practices causing problems in water purity. “Instead of using polycarbonate jars which are considered safe from microbes creation, many companies have been using PET jars without properly sterilizing them,” he said. Meanwhile, the milk sold in the market has also been found to be unsafe for consumption. Among the 13 dairies checked by the DFTQC, almost all of them were found selling milk contaminated with coli form. In this regard, the department also sealed six dairies where the products were found to contain alarming levels of coli form. The DFTQC, however, allowed them to continue selling milk even before they had pledged to produce coli form-free milk. The Consumer Welfare Protection Forum (CWPF), a consumer interest group, said increased adulteration has been identified in rice and ghee in particular in recent days. “The tendency of mixing low standard rice with high standard rice has been prevalent in recent days,” said CWPF secretary Bimala Khanal. According to her, use of chemicals including pesticides and insecticides is also on rise in the recent days. “Dairies have been using edible soda to prevent milk from spoiling while they use caustic soda to make milk look dense with fat.” Khanal said using carbide and wax in fruits, formalin to preserve fish and growth hormones in vegetable and meat products were other burning problems. “In addition, many traders have been selling the meat of animals that have been given antibiotics.” According to the CWPF, date expired medicinal products are being mainly sold in rural areas. Similarly, sales of packaged foods including energy drinks that do not contain batch numbers, expiry dates and other related information are also posing a risk to people’s health. She blamed the weak legal provision for the increasing adulteration and other malpractices.
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