CHEMICALS as food preservatives are widely used in Bangladesh; no matter how injurious it is to human health is not to any one’s guess. Its use in perishable food like fruits and vegetables is going on unabated. Such chemical contamination is taking place without any interference from health officials of the government. Since the government is not taking the issue seriously, except on selected occasions, the problem is turning out to be very serious as it is occurring on a more frequent basis on edible items traded in the market. Mangoes, litchis and such other seasonal fruits causing concerns to buyers in this situation. A report carried in a national English daily said most food items are contaminated with injurious chemical pesticides, which have been banned for long but traders are using it unimpeded.
As food is the basic need and getting safe food is citizen’s right, we express our deep concern over the growing use of chemicals in food items. Its cost in term of health hazards and cost of treatment may turn out to be enormous at the end. The government claims to be a government of the people but its nonchalant outlook to address people’s health concerns are not easily understood. We share experts’ view that the government must immediately take up the responsibility and keep the market under regular watch, besides regular laboratory tests to ascertain the level of contamination in major food items as part of the public health safety programme. As we see that the law is not enough to control the unscrupulous trades and an existing nexus between dishonest traders and inspectors of the watchdog agencies are making the market supervision ineffective.
News reports quoting a FAO-sponsored test at the National Food Safety Laboratory (NFSL) found the presence of toxic substances in food samples from 3 to 20 times of the permissible limits set by the European Union. Though import of most of these chemicals is banned for high toxicity, dishonest businesses smuggle these from neighbouring countries. Here the role of the law enforcing agencies is highly important to check its smuggling. The officials of Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) also cannot shrug off the blame for spraying chemicals to plants and vegetables.
Reports said that the common food items, which are highly contaminated, are carrot, bean, tomato, lettuce, capsicum, banana, apple, pineapple and mango. Rice, turmeric, poultry meat and juices are also not free from heavy metals. NFSL detected presence of antibiotics in chicken and fish samples. High microbial populations were found in several samples of pasteurised milk. As we see, the very names of the items suggest the highest level of vulnerability to the human body from chemical mixed food items. It is advisable that the government should restrict imports, strengthen the market monitoring and pass appropriate legislation to curb its misuse. There can’t be any compromise where human health is at risk.
