Upgradation of moral values, raising mass awareness, and formulation of proper laws and their strict implementation are the imperatives to check food adulteration in the country, said the speakers at a seminar yesterday. They urged the government to take punitive actions against those involved in the production and sale of adulterated food and run the anti-adulteration drive frequently to save the nation from ruin. The seminar titled 'Adulteration-free food: Present situation and our duties' was organised jointly by Paribesh Bachao Andolan (PBA) (Save Environment Movement) and the Institute of Food and Science Technology (IFST) at the seminar hall of Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) in the city. Presenting a keynote paper, Dr K M Farmujul Haque, acting director of BCSIR, said every consumer has the right to get safe and toxic-free food but we are all deprived of the right. He said it has been found in research that harmful chemicals like calcium carbide are being used to ripen the monsoon fruits like mango, pineapple, banana and papaya. At the same time textile colour, which is being used in vegetables to make them fresh and attractive, can cause cancer, he said, adding after examining the sample of mustard oil in the IFST laboratory, chemical elements have been found in it. Dr Haque said highly toxic chemicals DDT and heptachlor are being used in dried fish. Around two lakh people are affected by cancer every year due to intake of adulterated food, he added. BCSIR Chairman Dr Chowdhury Mahmud Hasan said the main problem behind all these misdeeds is the degradation of moral values. "A person is cheating another as both of them are involved in the act, and in the long run both of them are putting their own as well as their next generations at risk,' he added. Changes in the mindset and raising mass awareness are must to stop adulteration, he said, suggesting an increase in the number of people who will monitor food adulteration. Columnist and Bishmukta Khadya Andolan Convener Syed Abul Maksud said there are many laws in the country but nobody wants to obey them. The nation will be 'dead one' if the government does not take stringent measures to check food adulteration, he said. Fahima Roksana, director of IFST, said a section of vested businessmen are putting the future of the next generation on the verge of destruction for their petty interest. She suggested regular monitoring even at upazila level to check food adulteration. PBA President Abu Naser Khan demanded proper implementation of the consumer act. He said media has an immense role in carrying out the movement for stopping adulteration of food ahead.