Unsafe Plates |
India’s food economy is entering a dangerous phase ~ not necessarily because adulteration is new, but because public trust is beginning to collapse faster than the state can restore it. Across urban India, middle-class households are quietly changing behavioral patterns. Families are grinding spices at home, sourcing milk from farms, abandoning loose packaged staples and paying premiums for products they believe are safer.
These are not lifestyle choices driven by nostalgia or wellness culture. They are defensive adaptations to a market increasingly viewed with suspicion. That should alarm policymakers far more than periodic raids or sensational videos. India does not lack food safety laws. The Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006 created one of the most ambitious regulatory frameworks in the developing world. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) was created to modernise oversight, standardise manufacturing practices and build accountability across the food chain.
Yet the persistence of adulteration reveals a deeper institutional contradiction: India has built a modern regulatory architecture on top of a largely informal economy. That mismatch is at the heart of the crisis. Much of........