Part of the population is malnourished while a fraction is obese; leaving a very few healthy within an agrarian economy. This column has written extensively on the income inequality, but nothing much has been said on the food and nutrition disparity.

Food is available in abundance; but not for all and that causes the problem of food security for marginalized. Affordability becomes a bigger issue ever since the wheat support price mechanism was introduced in 2008 and since then the food index has more than doubled, leaving the marginalized to eat less. To add to the ado, the lack of micro nutrients owing to host of reasons is making the future generations vulnerable.

This information is known to many, and has been debated at many forums; but one problem which is not dealt with care is the food safety for those who can afford. Every now and then, there is some ad hoc action is taken on the quality of the food available by one or the other authority.

For example, which packaged milk is better or which is not? Whether to consume loose milk or packaged? Is there a problem in eating broiler chicken? Are the vegetables, grown by using contaminated water or soaked in pesticides to enhance life, qualified to be eatable? Is the hydrogenation process in vanaspati making it unfit for cooking? Can vanaspati be manufactured without hydrogenation? And the list goes on.

Yesterday, Nestle Pakistan and Pakistan Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (PCSIR) conducted a Seminar in Islamabad on Food Safety and Harmonization - shaping a healthier nation. The notion of food safety was the heart of that agenda.

The food safety is directly linked to with economic and social prosperity as prevention is better than cure; and eating healthy food builds healthy minds to enhance economic productivity. The need to have clear cut food security measures across the nation cannot be overemphasized.

In Pakistan, there are number of federal and provincial food control authorities and bodies working independently and without any coordination, all are trying to deal same issues in varying manner. Too many cooks spoil the broth. The phrase simply explains the efforts of all the bodies are making consumer confused and food companies to spend extra time and money to deal with issues.

The conference emphasized on the need of harmonization of food standards country wide to be run by a federal body and to be abided by all the provincial bodies. It’s imperative to have same standards across the board, and its basic right of every Pakistani to consume safe food. Right now, food safety is dealt with emotions and perceptions without much scientific research and findings. The subject is devolved to provinces after 18th amendment, and Punjab and KPK bodies are active in their own respective spheres to have food safety without any coordination amongst themselves or with federal authorities.

The resources are spent inefficiently, and decisions are made based on insufficient research and information. The consumer is at loss in the process, leaving tens of millions vulnerable to numbers of diseases. The country needs to move away from fragmented food safety systems and conflicting food safety standards.

And once we have it, the next step is connecting the dots of food safety and food security. The marginalized should have access to safe food. An international expert on the matter, Awilo Ochieng Pernet, outgoing Chairperson -CODEX Alimentarius International, presented in the seminar and she explained international food safety standards to all the government agencies in the event. It’s time for all to unlearn and relearn and should sit down with experts to form national food safety standards to be implemented across the country. And the best forum to resolve the conflict is to bring the food harmonization on ECC agenda.