New Delhi: A recent report of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has revealed that vegetables sold in major states of the country are poisonous.
The worst situation was noticed in Madhya Pradesh, where 25 percent of vegetables grown and sold in markets failed to meet requisite standards, followed by Chhattisgarh, where harmful elements were found in 13 percent of vegetables.
The samples taken from the South Zone could only meet the safety standards while vegetable samples were taken from the Central, Eastern, Western and Northern zones were found to contain poisonous content from 5 to 15 percent.
Except for leafy vegetables, the amount of lead in other vegetables should not be more than 100 micrograms per kg, but in Madhya Pradesh, the tomato was found to contain 600 micrograms of lead, while ladyfinger had lead content of 1000 micrograms.
You must be thinking that India has always been an agricultural country and vegetables are grown here for thousands of years, so where did this poison come from? The answer lies in the use of pesticides causing toxic elements in vegetables, polluting soil as well as water.
In the year 2016, the channel did a comprehensive reporting in this connection and again in 2018 and 2019 to create awareness about poisonous content in vegetables.
The latest FSSAI survey is very intimidating as it found that nearly 10 percent of vegetables grown and sold across the country are poisonous.
The question arises how can we avoid consuming poisonous vegetables? And how can we assess that the vegetables consumed by us are safe?
To protect us from consuming the poisonous vegetables, we also need to learn to become self-dependent by growing vegetables on our roof or terrace.
The responsibility in this regard does not lie on any individual or an institution, but people from all walks of life need to come together to take a pledge to liberate them from the menace of poisonous vegetables.