Banned food products not pulled back yet

Many of the banned food items ordered to have been withdrawn from the market for being harmful to health 12 days ago were still being sold.

After inspecting five markets in the northern part of the capital on Saturday, the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution seized large quantities of banned iodised salt, ghee and cumin and coriander powders.

The market inspection has once again revealed the poor control the national food standards regulatory authorities has over companies who hardly care about complying with the law.

‘It seems the companies have not withdrawn [many] banned food products at all,’ said BSTI assistant director Monotosh Kumar Das.

Though supermarkets and big shopping outlets mostly stopped selling the products, their [companies’] supplies to medium and small shops remained uninterrupted, said Monotosh.

On June 11, the BSTI declared seven food products, produced by 21 companies including Square Food and Beverage Limited, Pran Dairy Limited and Hashem Foods Limited, unfit for consumption, giving the manufacturers a week to pull back their products from the market.

On Saturday, the BSTI inspection team seized 47 boxes of banned Pran ghee, 90 packets of Radhuni cumin and coriander powders, and 74 kg of Confidence iodised salt.

The markets the BSTI inspected on Saturday were Bou Bazar, Khilgaon Bazar, Tejgaon Government Hawkers Market, Tejgaon  Kalmilota Bazar, and Banani  DNCC Market.

Monotosh said that the High Court was directly supervising their activities regarding the unfit food products and that they would inform the court about the companies not following their order to recall the products on Sunday.

‘We will act as per court’s direction,’ said Monotosh.

In laboratory tests the BSTI found that many iodised salts marketed were highly alkaline and dirty while lachchha semais were highly acidic or contained excessive fat.

The BSTI tests also found that cumin, coriander and turmeric powders lacked required fineness or contained excessive moisture.

Samples of ghee and butter oil failed five or more test parameters and the BSTI report stated that it was difficult to determine if the ingredient used in manufacturing the products was milk fat.

The BSTI in May banned another 52 food items for not complying with their standards. The regulatory body ordered withdrawal of the products from the market following instructions from the High Court Division.

None of the 47 companies manufacturing the products followed the order and continued to sell them in the market.

Neither the BSTI nor the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority has ever published a report on the 52 products recall operation.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net