Food safety has been a neglected issue in Bangladesh. The law against food adulteration was very weak, traders and producers preferred paying fines and continuing to sell adulterated foods. The government enacted Safe Food Act last year. But the authority seems to be reluctant on implementing that act. Public Health Laboratory and BSTI laboratory have been improved in recent years.
Some experts say, though there is no data on food adulteration in Bangladesh but the situation here may be the worst among South Asian countries. Eighty percent of foods in market may be adulterated or substandard. Almost half of the items tested by Public Health Laboratory in last twelve years were found adulterated or substandard. The lab couldn’t test food items like meat, vegetables and fruits because they don’t have required equipments.
Producers and traders are using formalin, calcium carbide, urea, coloring agents like auramine, rhodomine b, malachite green, yellow g and allura red. These chemicals may cause kidney or liver dysfunction, cause cancer and other deadly diseases.
BSTI officials say, they have conducted more than five thousand mobile courts and fined many traders in recent years. But other government organizations are not doing their part.
