Quality control in action

Sporadic stunts and photo ops in the presence of the media are not going to help.

Dashain is just around the corner, and it is photo-op time for officials of the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control. From now until Tihar, we will see photos and videos of men and women in white shirts and blue pants dumping what they claim are expired food items. From cooking oil to noodles, and chocolates to biscuits, everything goes into the pit. So hurried is the entire process that the officials often do not find the time to separate the plastic wrappers from the food items. In a hurry to save humans from eating substandard food, officials end up feeding Mother Earth the non-biodegradable waste that 21st century humankind has not found sustainable alternatives for.