It's not just turmeric intended for human consumption that is being adulterated with poison. The pigment sindoor is traditionally made using turmeric, but frequently includes red lead and vermilion (mercury.)
How to stop adulterated turmeric from killing people
161–170 of 200 posts
Re: How to stop adulterated turmeric from killing people
#162Earlier quoted context omitted.
In India, elections can be flipped by margins of only a couple thousand voters. This is why enforcement might be lax. Local enforcement doesn't want to mess with small businesses or unions (eg. Auto rickshaw unions) lest they lose their seat. Stuff like this will continue to happen for 2 generations (and maybe even longer). Look at China as an example, and even South Korea. They are 15 and 40 years ahead of India res…
I am no political expert, but “my opponent is harming your children’s health” seems like it can move some votes.
And then a week later news comes out that your opponent was implicated in similar dodgy dealings.
In a local election in India, you'll be seeing around 7-8 different parties and 4-5 additional independent candidates running for a seat.
Generally, a "landslide victory" for a seat might be 30% of total votes at most.
With margins so low and elections so expensive (candidates for local elections now spend around $5-$15 million [0]), this means you need to make sure to find a way to not make enemies.
[0] - https://theprint.in/opinion/does-india-need-a-ceiling-on-ele...
Re: How to stop adulterated turmeric from killing people
#163Earlier quoted context omitted.
This talks about detecting it in whole turmeric, any way of doing so for powdered turmeric?
It's right there :) `Test 15 : Detection of artificial colour in turmeric powder` - [1] https://eatrightindia.gov.in/dart/
So you have to read between the lines and infer that "artificial colour" might be lead? Seems needlessly vague.
Re: How to stop adulterated turmeric from killing people
#164Earlier quoted context omitted.
Rather a large number of things are contaminated with heavy metals, because the food industry tends not to test for them and there's little regulation: https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/your-herb... ( "Your Herbs and Spices Might Contain Arsenic, Cadmium, and Lead: CR tested 126 products from McCormick, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and other popular brands. Almost a third had heavy metal levels high en…
I thought XRF guns could go down to the ppb range? Why doesn't every food manufacturer test every batch?
Talk to your legislators and regulatory bodies about making it happen.
Re: How to stop adulterated turmeric from killing people
#165I use a lot of turmeric, and I buy it whole from an Asian grocery store. Large Asian grocers will always have whole turmeric root. It's just like any other ginger root. I chop it up and puree it in a blender, and the puree can be used anywhere you'd otherwise use the powder.
Re: How to stop adulterated turmeric from killing people
#166Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or the carbon monoxide thing in the US (artificial colorant for supermarket meat): https://advocacy.consumerreports.org/wp-content/uploads/2013... (pdf) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23958645 The common thread is that consumers buy whatever they think "looks fresh", so vendors optimize for that metric. (It's the wrong metric). Efficient markets, I suppose.
>Efficient markets, I suppose. // Isn't the Capitalist notion of efficiency bound with perfect information - we'd have to legislate to make sure that consumers know the product is 'laced with poison for the appearance of freshness; packaging contains carbon monoxide (CO) a deadly gas' and then see if the customers buy more of that product. You're accusing consumers of optimising towards products _looking_ fresh, but…
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Re: How to stop adulterated turmeric from killing people
#167The lead chromate isn't particularly dangerous. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead(II)_chromate >Despite containing both lead and hexavalent chromium, lead chromate is not particularly toxic because of its very low solubility. The LD50 for rats is only 5,000 mg/kg. Lead chromate is treated with great care in its manufacture, the main concerns being dust of the chromate precursor. "Extensive epidemiological investigat…
Ah so maybe it's ok to dust crops with lead chromate then. That yellow color really does "pop".
Re: How to stop adulterated turmeric from killing people
#168>Recent estimates suggest a staggering 815m children—one in three of the global total—have been poisoned by the metal. This is insane, hard to believe tumeric is the main culprit. But then again lots of these children probsbly live in India, where the leadtumeric seems to be most popular.
lead paint is the other big culprit. For those looking to hasten the end of lead poisoning, the Lead Exposure Elimination Project ( https://leadelimination.org/ ) does great work.
And despite being illegal, lead is still in the majority of paint tested in India
Re: How to stop adulterated turmeric from killing people
#169Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not really comparable. The glycol is only ~4 times as damaging as the alcohol that wine contains anyway, and there were no known health issues triggered by it.
don't you think by saying "there were no known health issues triggered by it" you are committing a statistical fallacy? Just because something has not bee observed does not mean it is not there....
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Re: How to stop adulterated turmeric from killing people
#170The lead chromate isn't particularly dangerous. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead(II)_chromate >Despite containing both lead and hexavalent chromium, lead chromate is not particularly toxic because of its very low solubility. The LD50 for rats is only 5,000 mg/kg. Lead chromate is treated with great care in its manufacture, the main concerns being dust of the chromate precursor. "Extensive epidemiological investigat…
Ah so maybe it's ok to dust crops with lead chromate then. That yellow color really does "pop".
Yes.