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HEALTH
Handled
Without Care
Watch
out-eating roadside paneer or mushroom might cook your goose
 Going
to cook a fancy dinner tonight? If you are then it may be best to leave
out paneer and mushrooms bought from roadside vendors from the menu-and
keep away from any of the Indian desserts that have khoya. The reason:
more often than not they are contaminated by bacteria. These are the findings
of a recent market-based study conducted by scientists from the National
Institute of Nutrition (NIN) in Hyderabad. And we're talking nasty germs
here--like Staphylococcus and coliforms--which can cause anything from
simple diarrhoea to severe gastroenteritis.
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For
Your Eyes Only
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In
India, about 66 per cent of the people realise they need either
spectacles or contact lenses before the age of 15. However, a study
conducted by AC Nielsen for Bausch & Lomb on more than 30,000
respondents showed that only 18 per cent in the age group of 15
to 35 years actually go in for some kind of vision correction.
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Sounds
like bad news for paneer, mushroom and khoya lovers, but luckily for them
there is an upside. Says Dr Ramesh Bhat, deputy director (food safety
and quality) of NIN: "Most of the contamination can be completely
stopped if simple hygiene measures like washing hands with soap before
handling the food items can be put into practice." NIN studies showed
that manufacturing methods being used all the way up the chain-right from
collection to packaging-were unhygienic. This being part of a completely
unorganised sector, there is no real way to enforce cleanliness standards.
The study, which has been published in the Indian Council of Medical Research
bulletin, says street vendors often squeeze excess water out of paneer
with their bare hands. This is where contamination often occurs. The study
carried out another set of tests on paneer that had been handled by vendors
after they washed their hands and found that bacteria levels dipped considerably.
In mushrooms too, most of the contamination seems to occur during packaging.
It's clear that something needs to be done to monitor hygiene standards
in the push-cart sector. Nutrition experts say food certification will
be a major concern, especially if we want to export mushroom and paneer.
Certification will become compulsory in the near future, says Bhatt. But
till then, think again before you bite into another succulent paneer tikka.
-Subhadra
Menon
In Small Doses
White truth: It's official. Milk isn't what it's made out to be. A new
study conducted by the US-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
(PCRM) says an estimated 50 to 90 per cent of Indians are lactose intolerant.
Symptoms including gastro-intestinal distress, diarrhoea and flatulence
can occur because people do not have enzymes that digest the sugar naturally
present in milk. Besides, allergic reactions to milk proteins can cause
skin reactions, ear infections and asthma. Also, dairy products are cholesterol-heavy
and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Try soya milk instead,
says PCRM.
Top
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The
stock markets are humming, and it's feel-good time once again, writes
INDIA TODAY Associate Editor V. Shankar Aiyar in 
