Maggi controversy and Health Issue

Well, to begin with, I am sure no sane person ever believed Maggi to be actually healthy, we were all checked by our mothers, in due time, with her saying, “Beta, Maggi jyada mat khao pet kharab ho jayega.” Yes, mothers often multitask as health experts and astrologers. Anyway, my point here is that if we all were already pretty sure of the side effects of eating too much Maggi, then what is with this sudden outburst about Maggi not being healthy anymore? It is almost like people waking up from a slumber and declaring something that was, in the first place never healthy, to be unhealthy.

It all started when Maggi taste-maker was checked for the proportions of Lead and Mono-sodium Glutamate, which works as a taste enhancer, in Uttar Pradesh. The only thing I am wondering about is that if there is a “permissible limit” of these substances and none of us, who have eaten Maggi almost all our lives, are dead yet, then why did they just chumma go ahead and check the samples? Did they just wake up one day thinking, “Hmmmm… today I will go and check Maggi for excessive lead and MSG!”? And what are we, the consumers supposed to do? I was eating my third Maggi of the day when I saw the news flash and I was in two minds whether to keep eating or leave it, because some officer in UP had started checking the levels of Lead and MSG in Maggi, according to his whims and fancies.

Also, what about the frivolous law suit which implicated Preity Zinta, Amitabh Bachchan and Madhuri Dixit? I am not a huge fan, but Priety Zinta endorsed Maggi 12 years ago. How was she supposed to dream about all of this then? Well, another perfect example of the timely action being taken by the legal system of our country. And, for the parents who have suddenly woken up and started worrying about the health of their kids, there is this amazing thing called the internet – it shows food value of every single edible thing on earth. Or, even simpler, you could just turn the packet over, there’s this little box on the backside called the contents.

The most appalling thing, however, is that we have been eating food items which are barely clean since the last couple of decades. People mix stuff in our food, it is called Adulteration. We, being Indians, are the biggest victim of adulteration in the world and all we care about is Maggi having Lead and MSG more than the permissible levels in the stupid tastemaker. Wow, now that is something we really need to focus on because you know, who really eats food? Lentils and other powdered stuff is there just for the heck of it. For now, let’s just solve the huge Maggi mystery and call it the case of the year.

I agree discontinuation of Maggi will not be the biggest loss for mankind but there are various other things which need to be checked before Maggi – the air we breathe, for instance. Pollution levels are so high in our country that the air we breathe contains more lead than any Maggi or tastemaker could ever contain. I think it is about time we set our priorities straight, shut out the brouhaha and start working towards things which actually need our undivided attention.

Image Courtesy : https://focusnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/maggi11.jpg