The programme relies on a two pronged strategy of doing laboratory research to generate empirical data on issues of toxins and food safety and secondly, doing policy research and advocacy to bring about changes in the regulatory and enforcement framework.
Today, India faces a huge challenge in terms of regulating what we eat and the chemicals that enter our daily lives. Over the years we have been allowing use of various kinds of toxic chemicals without setting up regulations or the necessary infrastructure to monitor and record their impacts. There has been very little data generation on toxins in our environment, both from various industrial processes and also from different kind of consumer and daily use products.
This has translated into a poor regulatory framework. CSE food safety and toxins programme identifies such specific issues and follows its two-pronged strategy to generate a public debate.
Many of our studies and campaigns like the endosulfan poisoning in Kerala, pesticides in bottled water and soft drinks, transfat study and the study on lead in paints have led to tangible results like setting up of regulations and the institutional framework for it or have led to the beginning of this process.
CSE also responds to specific community requests for undertaking studies in these areas like in the case of endosulfan study and Bhopal factory site study.