Tareen Rahman :
Regulatory bodies dealing with food safety and public health issues in Bangladesh expressed concern that sellers and buyers at roadside iftar shops care little about hygiene in Bangladesh.
The doctors of city hospitals said that every day we are getting reports of patients being admitted to city hospitals due to intake of unhygienic iftar items.
The Iftar business is now in full swing as the month of Ramzan is here and consumers do not seem to be aware of the quality of foods being sold to them.
In Bangladesh, most of the food stuffs prepared or processed as iftar items in ‘khola bazar’ or ‘open street’ are unsafe for consumption or adulterated to varying degrees, said a house wife Nilufar Akhtar to our New Nation correspondent.
This problem persists at every level of the food chain from preparation to consumption. Food manufacturers, processors, restaurants, fast food outlets and all are involved with one way or another in this corrupt practice of adulteration.
Food items are adulterated by using various harmful chemicals and toxic artificial colours, on the one hand , while rotten perishables poisonous items are often stored as food, sold and served to consumers in an unhygienic atmosphere, on the other hand.
The unhygienic and unsafe food items are seriously impacting public health by causing numerous chronic and non-chronic diseases.
Right after Asr prayers, the whole city livens centering around “Iftar business,” with vendors disregarding for the country’s laws, and buyers not caring about hygiene standards and the quality of the foods.
A visit to various parts of the city revealed that street vendors, taking advantage of Ramzan, attempt to make money by selling unhygienic Iftar items against the law, with consumers unaware of the actual quality of the foods being sold to them.
In the city’s Shyamoli area, street food vendors were selling items from makeshift Iftar shops, three feet from a dustbin.Roadside food vendors Polashl, Kamal and Mostafiz have been preparing Iftar items on gas stoves set up close to a drain. Insects such as flies were sitting on items, while several people were buying from them, overlooking important factors such as hygiene and quality.
The story of food adulteration does not just end here as some dishonest vendors prepare items for Iftar with used cooking oil.
Admitting the crime, street vendors Razzak and Faruq said, “We sell food at low prices. If we use new oil every day, it will increase the price of food. People will not buy food from here at a high price, rather they will prefer restaurants.”
Bipul, a vendor in city’s Hatirpul area, said, he does it for money and though it requires a small amount of start-up capital, around Tk800-Tk1,200 can be earned daily.
Even though many buyers face problems after consurning roadside food items, they said they were helpless because of its attractiveness and low cost.
Kajal, a rickshaw puller, said: “I do not have money to buy food from big hotels.”
Meanwhile, an employee of a private firm, named Rubel, posed a question: “Is there any guarantee that the big hotels prepare healthy foods as well?”
“We watch on television how big hotels prepare food in unhygienic places,” he said.
The government should ensure pure food for everybody, said another buyer Aftab Hossain.
Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institution (BSTI) officials said that from July 10 to July 22 mobile courts fined over Tk 3.5m to hundreds of organizations regarding such matters, adding that under the pure food ordinance, 52 cases were filed.
Dr. Abu Sadat Mohammad Saleh , Assistant Health Officer of Dhaka South City Corporation, said: “Proper implementation of law and more active involvement of law enforcement agencies could be a good solution to end the sale of unhygienic roadside food.”
However, these actions will be more successful, if buyers are aware of the potential health risks, he added.
Regulatory bodies dealing with food safety and public health issues in Bangladesh expressed concern that sellers and buyers at roadside iftar shops care little about hygiene in Bangladesh.
The doctors of city hospitals said that every day we are getting reports of patients being admitted to city hospitals due to intake of unhygienic iftar items.
The Iftar business is now in full swing as the month of Ramzan is here and consumers do not seem to be aware of the quality of foods being sold to them.
In Bangladesh, most of the food stuffs prepared or processed as iftar items in ‘khola bazar’ or ‘open street’ are unsafe for consumption or adulterated to varying degrees, said a house wife Nilufar Akhtar to our New Nation correspondent.
This problem persists at every level of the food chain from preparation to consumption. Food manufacturers, processors, restaurants, fast food outlets and all are involved with one way or another in this corrupt practice of adulteration.
Food items are adulterated by using various harmful chemicals and toxic artificial colours, on the one hand , while rotten perishables poisonous items are often stored as food, sold and served to consumers in an unhygienic atmosphere, on the other hand.
The unhygienic and unsafe food items are seriously impacting public health by causing numerous chronic and non-chronic diseases.
Right after Asr prayers, the whole city livens centering around “Iftar business,” with vendors disregarding for the country’s laws, and buyers not caring about hygiene standards and the quality of the foods.
A visit to various parts of the city revealed that street vendors, taking advantage of Ramzan, attempt to make money by selling unhygienic Iftar items against the law, with consumers unaware of the actual quality of the foods being sold to them.
In the city’s Shyamoli area, street food vendors were selling items from makeshift Iftar shops, three feet from a dustbin.Roadside food vendors Polashl, Kamal and Mostafiz have been preparing Iftar items on gas stoves set up close to a drain. Insects such as flies were sitting on items, while several people were buying from them, overlooking important factors such as hygiene and quality.
The story of food adulteration does not just end here as some dishonest vendors prepare items for Iftar with used cooking oil.
Admitting the crime, street vendors Razzak and Faruq said, “We sell food at low prices. If we use new oil every day, it will increase the price of food. People will not buy food from here at a high price, rather they will prefer restaurants.”
Bipul, a vendor in city’s Hatirpul area, said, he does it for money and though it requires a small amount of start-up capital, around Tk800-Tk1,200 can be earned daily.
Even though many buyers face problems after consurning roadside food items, they said they were helpless because of its attractiveness and low cost.
Kajal, a rickshaw puller, said: “I do not have money to buy food from big hotels.”
Meanwhile, an employee of a private firm, named Rubel, posed a question: “Is there any guarantee that the big hotels prepare healthy foods as well?”
“We watch on television how big hotels prepare food in unhygienic places,” he said.
The government should ensure pure food for everybody, said another buyer Aftab Hossain.
Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institution (BSTI) officials said that from July 10 to July 22 mobile courts fined over Tk 3.5m to hundreds of organizations regarding such matters, adding that under the pure food ordinance, 52 cases were filed.
Dr. Abu Sadat Mohammad Saleh , Assistant Health Officer of Dhaka South City Corporation, said: “Proper implementation of law and more active involvement of law enforcement agencies could be a good solution to end the sale of unhygienic roadside food.”
However, these actions will be more successful, if buyers are aware of the potential health risks, he added.
