121 enterprises served show cause notices for food adulteration

The Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) has issued showcause notices to 121 enterprises after detecting adulteration in their consumer products, including edible oil, rice bran oil, mustard oil, and ghee. As part of the government’s anti-adulteration drive during the holy month of Ramadan, beginning at the end of this month, four mobile courts will operate in Dhaka and one each in the district towns.
Industries minister Amir Hossain Amu disclosed this at a press briefing held at the industries ministry yesterday. “The BSTI tested 1,284 samples of various consumer products in its laboratory between July 2016 and April 2017. Of them, 121 failed to obtain BSTI certificates, as the products were found to be adulterated,” Amir Hossain Amu told reporters.
Rice bran oil of Sonali Traders, ghee of Samrat Food Products, mustard oil of Prodhan Consumer Products and SS Agro were some of the food products that were found adulterated, the minister said.
“Four mobile courts will operate every day in Dhaka city ahead of Ramadan. Besides, one mobile court in each of the district towns will also conduct special drives. The surveillance and monitoring team of the BSTI will continue its tests to prevent adulteration,” Amir Hossain Amu said. The industries minister directed BSTI officials to punish the companies that produce adulterated food items instead of sellers on the street or retailers. “We are yet to fully prevent the use of formalin, but we hope to succeed soon. The use of formalin has drastically declined, thanks to checks conducted by mobile courts,” the minister said. The BSTI has altogether held 302 mobile courts between July 2016 and May 2017, Amu said, adding that a total of 874 cases was filed during this period. Besides, the surveillance team filed 335 cases against food adulterers within this period, he added. “The mobile court and the surveillance team has realised some Tk. 4.02 crore as fines during this period,” the industries minister said.
The minister also said that the BSTI had tested orange, malta, apple, grape, watermelon, mango, banana, dates and other fruits but did not find any trace of formalin in the tested samples. “We are testing fruits and other consumer items using modern kits, as per the High Court directives,” he said in reply to a query.

121 enterprises served show cause notices for food adulteration

The Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) has issued showcause notices to 121 enterprises after detecting adulteration in their consumer products, including edible oil, rice bran oil, mustard oil, and ghee. As part of the governments anti-adulteration drive during the holy month of Ramadan, beginning at the end of this month, four mobile courts will operate in Dhaka and one each in the district towns. Industries minister Amir Hossain Amu disclosed this at a press briefing held at the industries ministry yesterday. The BSTI tested 1,284 samples of various consumer products in its laboratory between July 2016 and April 2017. Of them, 121 failed to obtain BSTI certificates, as the products were found to be adulterated, Amir Hossain Amu told reporters. Rice bran oil of Sonali Traders, ghee of Samrat Food Products, mustard oil of Prodhan Consumer Products and SS Agro were some of the food products that were found adulterated, the minister said. Four mobile courts will operate every day in Dhaka city ahead of Ramadan. Besides, one mobile court in each of the district towns will also conduct special drives. The surveillance and monitoring team of the BSTI will continue its tests to prevent adulteration, Amir Hossain Amu said. The industries minister directed BSTI officials to punish the companies that produce adulterated food items instead of sellers on the street or retailers. We are yet to fully prevent the use of formalin, but we hope to succeed soon. The use of formalin has drastically declined, thanks to checks conducted by mobile courts, the minister said. The BSTI has altogether held 302 mobile courts between July 2016 and May 2017, Amu said, adding that a total of 874 cases was filed during this period. Besides, the surveillance team filed 335 cases against food adulterers within this period, he added. The mobile court and the surveillance team has realised some Tk. 4.02 crore as fines during this period, the industries minister said. The minister also said that the BSTI had tested orange, malta, apple, grape, watermelon, mango, banana, dates and other fruits but did not find any trace of formalin in the tested samples. We are testing fruits and other consumer items using modern kits, as per the High Court directives, he said in reply to a query.