Due to the discovery of substandard and fake food products, cases of adulterated cattle feed being manufactured and marketed have surfaced in the Cuttack region. The accused are conducting their illegal business uninterrupted in the absence of supervision by the concerned authority.
Those involved in the racket mix the cattle feed with rice husk and khadi pathar (chalk stone) powder. They are then packaged and distributed in open marketplaces. While genuine cattle feed provides balanced nutrition, adulterated feed provides no nourishment and instead endangers cattle health.
Atal Bihar Das, the owner of a dairy farm, claimed that he had paid Rs.1150 for a 50 kg 'chakada' bag from Adaspur market. When he weighed the bag, he discovered that it contained 48 kg of cattle feed that had only been contaminated with rice husk and chalk stone powder. When Das brought the matter to the notice of Kantapada block veterinary officer Dr. Jitendra Narayan Maharana, the latter stated that he had not received any instructions from the government to crack down on the racket.
Rakesh Sahu, the Cuttack (Rural) Food Safety Officer, stated that he lacks the authority to take action against cattle feed adulteration. Madhu Sudan Subudhi, the district's chief veterinary officer, stated that he has not yet received any reports of cattle feed adulteration in the district. If there are complaints, he added, a special squad would be established to conduct raids and collect samples of cattle feed, which will then be forwarded to a lab for testing.
Adulteration of animal-based foods not only has the potential to damage consumer trust, but it may also pose a health risk. This is the situation, for example, when feed contaminated with proteins naturally generated in the body of the animal but present in their harmful form known as prions enters the food chain, as was the case with the transmission of mad cow disease BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy).
It is consequently critical for consumer health protection that the validity of food and feed can be validated analytically. The reasons for the adulterations can be both illegal practices as well as inadvertent addition of non-declared animal components.
