A rotten shame

The seizure of 1200 kilograms of spoiled, foul-smelling meat in Srinagar has shocked the Valley. It has raised many urgent questions. Was it a matter of poor food storage? A systemic failure? And the most important question, who was it meant for? And how old is this practice and how many times has such meat made it to our plates undetected?. And it is vital that these questions are answered and the answers are shared with public.

The Food Safety Department deserves credit for acting on a tip-off and swiftly destroying the meat. But reactive enforcement cannot substitute for a functioning, transparent, and accountable food safety system. The disturbing possibility that this decayed meat was bound for popular restaurants, to be cooked, masked by spice and smoke, and served to unsuspecting families, is a betrayal of consumer trust at the most intimate level.

Food safety in Jammu and Kashmir is now visibly compromised. Use of banned preservatives, and unchecked adulteration have created a silent epidemic that doctors say may be linked to rising gastrointestinal cancers in the region. And still, there is no accountability.

This is an alarming situation. As things stand, street vendors, restaurants and even hoteliers operate with little to no oversight. The roadside vendors have been found to reuse oil multiple times, handling food with bare hands, and often storing it in substandard conditions. Worse, the unchecked use of adulterants in food products poses serious health risks, contributing to a rise in gastrointestinal infections, food poisoning, and even cancer.

So, the government must do more than just seize and destroy. It has to do several things: name the responsible Food Business Operators (FBOs), trace the supply chain, and reveal where this meat was headed. That done, legal consequences should follow. It is the right of consumers to know who have been endangering their health, not only to ensure justice, but to prevent recurrence.

The government also needs to probe, whether this supply chain was also active in the rest of the Valley. We need to get to the bottom of this scam. And the food safety department must lead the charge and reassure consumers that those breaking their trust will face an exemplary punishment.