Adulteration a big problem

I agree with the views expressed in the editorial “Unhygienic food” published in THT on March 10. It is a positive move by the government to check adulteration in foodstuff available in the market. But the people involved in this mission should be actually qualified as minute amounts of adulterants such as Argemone can lead to a deadly disease known as dropsy. Argemone has become a popular food additive nowadays, generally used to adulterate mustard oil. It has harmful effects on health and causes swelling of legs, diarrhoea, cardiac failure and even death. This is also the time to be alert and careful while insisting on buying clean and hygienic food. The people should be aware enough to check the manufacturing date, expiry date and the components used in the foodstuff to see that they meet the standards before purchasing. The Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC) should implement effective policies to check food adulteration and fortification by wrong-doers, industries and retailers. Some food additives are mixed for preservation, to improve the taste and to make the goods attractive to the customers without keeping in mind the negative impact on the health of the people. The DFTQC should check the magnitude of Vitamin A on vegetable ghee, iodine in salt, fluorine in the water and toothpaste, etc. The people should also be careful about the purity of the bottled mineral water before buying, not to mention the need for strict quality monitoring of such plants and other industries that produce daily edibles like noodles, biscuits, breads and cooking oils.

Bimal Ojha, Mashuriya, Kailali

Peace trek

This refers to the news “94-year-old to trek for peace” published in THT on March 13. I am really touched by what Karl Henrik Wagner has decided to do. A World War II veteran himself, he has said that violence is not going to help anyone and that ultimately peace is what everyone desires. And for this, even at such an age, he has decided to trek to Muktinath carrying the message of peace for the sake of the Nepali people, which truly shows his affection for this country. If he is successful, he will set an example for the Nepalis to follow. He will be travelling to the rebel-controlled areas with the message to renounce violence, which is really praiseworthy. Such an honest effort would give some boost to the peace process as well.

Alankar Khanal, via e-mail

Good work

Thanks to THT for highlighting such an encouraging and exemplary work of Radio Shreenagar of Palpa district, which is providing its listeners with on-air coaching lesson programmes like Tuition-On-Air (teaching language, grammar, etc.) for the benefit of the students. The other FM stations should learn from it. FM is not meant for going on air with unsubstantiated news or just for the sake of entertainment. There is no harm in hosting educative and informative

programmes so that the people can be motivated for development work. They should focus on innovative work that is good for the society, and give programmes that can produce a whole new generation of responsible citizens. A lot of FM stations had earlier earned a bad reputation owing to unreliable news they aired without caring to verify them. Instead, the latest venture is a good way of helping the poor in Nepal.

Rabindra Suwal, Beni, Myagdi