Reza Mahmud :
Bangladesh will face hardship on exporting its packaged food items if failed to comply World Health Organisation’s guidelines on keeping Trans Fat to 2% of total fat in all fats, oils, and foods by 2023.
Sources said Bangladesh exports different types of food items worth about Tk 2,300 crore every year. A good portion of the items are dominated by packaged food items like, biscuits, chanachur, noodles and others.
Experts are worried about continuing the pace of exporting due to the WHO guidelines of Transfatty acid TFA level in foods.
Partially Hydrogenated Oil or PHO is the main source of Trans Fatty Acid (TFA) or Trans Fat, which is familiar as dalda or bonospoti in Bangladesh.
According to WHO guidelines, countries have to keep TFA 2 per cent or below in foods by 2023. Those countries failed to comply the guidelines could not be allowed exporting food items.
Besides, a recent study conducted by the National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute showed that 92 per cent of sampled of PHOs using in different food items from Dhaka city found containing TFA levels above 10 per cent.
The sampled PHOs even showed a staggering high concentration of TFA, 20.9g per 100 grams, which is more than 10 times the WHO-set level limit.
When contacted, Manzur Morshed Ahmed, Member of Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) told The New Nation, “A committee of BFSA took a decision on October 28 to prepare a draft to regulate on the issue.”
He said, due to lack of public awareness, there are huge use of dalda and other source of TFA has created serious risks of health in the country.
In these situation the BFSA trying to prepare the draft but it may consume abut six months to complete it as a regulation.
Experts said that there are huge tasks to below TFA level to two per cent after enacting a law.
They said food industries are using huge TFA unabatedly. After enacting law, they have to introduce alternatives.
Besides, it needs wide public awareness programmes to maintain the WHO guidelines that needs more times.
Neighbouring India took preparation on this regards about 10 years ago, but Bangladesh yet to prepare a draft regulation on it.
ABM Zubair, Executive Director of PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress), a research and advocacy organization, urges to speedily enact and implement policies following WHO guidelines of limiting trans fat to 2%.
Contacted, Md. Nozir Ahmed, Deputy Director of Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) told The New Nation, “BSTI work as per the government rules and regulation. There is no law or regulation regarding controlling TFA. If any regulations is enact then the BSTI will take necessary steps to control the level of TFA in foods.”
Bangladesh will face hardship on exporting its packaged food items if failed to comply World Health Organisation’s guidelines on keeping Trans Fat to 2% of total fat in all fats, oils, and foods by 2023.
Sources said Bangladesh exports different types of food items worth about Tk 2,300 crore every year. A good portion of the items are dominated by packaged food items like, biscuits, chanachur, noodles and others.
Experts are worried about continuing the pace of exporting due to the WHO guidelines of Transfatty acid TFA level in foods.
Partially Hydrogenated Oil or PHO is the main source of Trans Fatty Acid (TFA) or Trans Fat, which is familiar as dalda or bonospoti in Bangladesh.
According to WHO guidelines, countries have to keep TFA 2 per cent or below in foods by 2023. Those countries failed to comply the guidelines could not be allowed exporting food items.
Besides, a recent study conducted by the National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute showed that 92 per cent of sampled of PHOs using in different food items from Dhaka city found containing TFA levels above 10 per cent.
The sampled PHOs even showed a staggering high concentration of TFA, 20.9g per 100 grams, which is more than 10 times the WHO-set level limit.
When contacted, Manzur Morshed Ahmed, Member of Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) told The New Nation, “A committee of BFSA took a decision on October 28 to prepare a draft to regulate on the issue.”
He said, due to lack of public awareness, there are huge use of dalda and other source of TFA has created serious risks of health in the country.
In these situation the BFSA trying to prepare the draft but it may consume abut six months to complete it as a regulation.
Experts said that there are huge tasks to below TFA level to two per cent after enacting a law.
They said food industries are using huge TFA unabatedly. After enacting law, they have to introduce alternatives.
Besides, it needs wide public awareness programmes to maintain the WHO guidelines that needs more times.
Neighbouring India took preparation on this regards about 10 years ago, but Bangladesh yet to prepare a draft regulation on it.
ABM Zubair, Executive Director of PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress), a research and advocacy organization, urges to speedily enact and implement policies following WHO guidelines of limiting trans fat to 2%.
Contacted, Md. Nozir Ahmed, Deputy Director of Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) told The New Nation, “BSTI work as per the government rules and regulation. There is no law or regulation regarding controlling TFA. If any regulations is enact then the BSTI will take necessary steps to control the level of TFA in foods.”
