It’s highly disturbing to us that, a number of renowned companies are still engaged in dirty adulteration business. These factories allegedly do not follow the rules of quality control while 75 per cent of the chemicals usually use by these factories in colouring food is also time-expired. What’s true is that, the adulteration of foods has now become a national health issue. Earlier, we saw small and household factories were engaged with this dirty practice. Now, the big industries are joining the fleet. It is not only directly endangering public health with numerous acute and chronic diseases, but also making our future generation vulnerable to health disaster. If the trend goes on unchallenged, the next generation will be seriously affected with physical and mental illness. Usually, fruits, vegetables, milk, fishes, sweetmeats, rice, wheat, meat, oil, ghee, spices, egg, soft drink, juice powder, baby foods and so on – are commonly adulterated . Fruits are adulterated with calcium carbide, ethephon, formalin, injections of colours and sweeteners.
Besides, the vegetables are adulterated with formalin and toxic dyes while fish with formalin. Even some regular food items like carrot, bean, tomato, banana, mango etc. are contaminated with toxic pesticides. DDT is widely used in dried fish at a higher concentration. On the other hand, milk is adulterated with formalin, addition of dirty water. Each and every item is adulterated by the dishonest traders for pocketing extra money. We see that despite different initiatives taken by Bangladesh Food Safety Authority, City Corporations of Dhaka, Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution, Consumers Association of Bangladesh, mobile court operations by RAB magistrates and other authorities concerned could not bring discipline in food sector.
Strict vigilance along with implementation of existing law is needed to check the food adulteration. Side by side bringing big industries under quality control supervision is very much important as such bad practice usually increases targeting different religious festivals including Ramzan.
