Staff Reporter :
In a report submitted in the High Court (HC), the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) said that it had detected lead in 11 pasteurized milk out of 14 brand milk approved by Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI).
The product which contains lead are Milk vita, Dairy fresh, Igloo, Farm fresh, Aftab milk, Ultra milk, Arong dairy, Pran milk, Ayran, Pura and Safe.
After receiving the report, the HC Bench directed the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority to submit a report in the court by July 28 about what action it had taken against adulteration of milk, curd and cattle feed.
It has also directed the government to ensure that antibiotics are not used for cattle without prescription of veterinary doctors.
The HC Bench comprising Justice Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice K M Hafizul Alam gave the order after hearing argument placed by BSTI and BFSA lawyers while hearing on a Suo Moto rule issued earlier in this regard.
The HC also issued a rule asking the registered milk and curd producing companies to explain as to why they should not be directed to contribute from their corporate social responsibility fund to conduct laboratory tests and research on their milk and curd.
Barrister Sarker M R Hassan, Counsel for Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution has told the court that cow milk contains antibiotics if those are fed or pushed into the cows.
The BSTI lawyer also informed the HC Bench that they would submit a report to another HC bench on 23 June in this regard. BSTI will also submit that report in this court on 28 July.
After submitting the report, BFSA lawyer Barrister Faridul Islam told the court that the BFSA has detected lead in 11 pasteurized milk out of 14 brands.
He also said that the BFSA tested 12 animal feed samples, 14 pasteurized milk and 50 raw milk. But they didn’t test detergent and antibiotics from this sample.
BFSA also found cadmium in few raw milk, where they have tested 50 raw milk sample, according to the report.
All the samples have been tested in BARI, BCSIR, Plasma Plus, Wafen Research, Atomic Energy Commission’s laboratory, ICDDR’B in line with the HC directive, BFSA lawyer said.
Later, the HC Bench fixed July 28 for further order over the matter.
The HC Bench on February 10 this year issued the Suo Moto rule over the matter following reports on adulteration published in some national dailies.
According to the report, a government study has found in raw cow milk excessive levels of lead, regular consumption of which is harmful to the human health.
Conducted by the National Food Safety Laboratory (NFSL) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the study also detected high levels of chromium in cow feed. Besides, it found excessive presence of pesticide, antibiotics and bacteria in raw cow milk.
During yesterday’s proceedings, Barrister Faridul Islam stood for BFSA, Sarkar M R Hasan represented the BSTI while Deputy Attorney General A K M Aminuddin Manik represented the state.
