Feasting in Nagaland is not restricted to any season but the scale during festive season reaches its zenith from the months of November to February or to an extent, March. These months are considered to be main festive season as weather remains cold and which is considered as an appetizer. The feasting also triggers many ailments due to over eating or consuming food items that are not good for health. Besides food items laced with artificial colors and taste which have chemical compositions that are regarded as harmful; even grocery items, vegetables and fruits contain some amount of chemicals that have been proved to be harmful. Festive season means feasts in which most food items are consumed far in excess of normal. Whether chemicals like carbide used for artificial ripening of fruit or most lentils or spices which contain harmful substances, the food scenario needs careful choice and handling. According to a report, in India, pesticide consumption on an average is 450 grams, and that of fertilisers is at 100 kg per hectare. Pesticides used to help grow more food such as Aldrin, Endosulfan, Dieldrin, Lindane and DDT are among the cocktail of chemicals which contaminate the groundwater. People in Nagaland are noted for being high consumers of meat products especially pork but quality of meat need to be strictly monitored. The high demand for meat products surpasses supply and the trade virtually becomes a seller\u2019s market. In other states, no one is allowed to sell meat without due certification and only in authorized markets. In Dimapur as well as other towns, meat is sold in unauthorized places despite the orders passed by the authorities form time to time. Merely passing orders does no good unless it is strictly enforced. There have been umpteen cases in the past, where meat unfit for consumption were sold to the unsuspecting buyers. There is need for strict inspection of non-vegetarian items sold in the market. The issue of unhealthy food brings to mind how some chemical substances are being fed to pigs in order to fatten them at the shortest time possible. There are also some animal feeds that are laced with hormones for fast growth. These are more harmful than aerated drinks. Even some of the vegetables and fruits contain many harmful substances which are used for fast growth and also to appear alluring to the eye. Some medical specialists also suspect that most of the causes of health problems arise out of consuming such food items over a prolonged period. This is particularly more pronounced during the current festive season. Food items containing chemical substances or combinations that are harmful to the body should be identified and consequently prohibited from sale. Public awareness on hazardous food items can be achieved if only health authorities carry out their responsibilities. This has been ignored for too long and it is time that the public health aspect be given due importance. Despite caution from the authorities, there has been no strict supervision on the state of meat products. Modern food packs are delightful but unless certified safe, should be banned from sale. The same rigor and determination taken against banning talab also needs to be shown towards food items put up for sale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Feasting in Nagaland is not restricted to any season but the scale during festive season reaches its zenith from the months of November to February or to an extent, March. These months are considered to be main festive season as weather remains cold and which is considered as an appetizer. The feasting also triggers many […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[685],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-402152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-editorial"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402152\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}