Safe and nutritious food is a fundamental human right. According to a report prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations last year, people are suffering from lack of safe food and nutrition across the globe due to both man-made and natural disasters. The adverse impact of climate change also contributes to this. Food can become unsafe due to application of hazardous chemicals, which in turn can cause diseases. About six million people worldwide consume unsafe food. And according to the figures provided by ICDDR,B, about 70 per cent of Bangladesh population consume unsafe food, and as a result suffer from various diseases, including cancer.
The provision of ensuring basic necessities including food has been enshrined in Article 15 of our constitution as a fundamental principle. Then Article 18 of the constitution stipulates that "The State shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties". But unfortunately, right to food could not be incorporated in the constitution as a fundamental right even after 53 years of independence. In 2013, the responsibility of ensuring safe food was reposed on a single organization through an Act of Parliament titled 'Food Safety Act, 2013'. It made provisions for the establishment of an efficient and effective authority, and for regulating, through coordination, the activities relating to food production, import, processing, stock, supply, marketing and sales, so as to ensure the rights toward access to safe food.
The 'Bangladesh Food Safety Authority' (BFSA) was constituted under the above-mentioned law in 2015. But serious challenges exist in ensuring its proper enforcement as well as establishing an appropriate regulatory mechanism. The agency has its own mobile court that can fine and sentence people for adulteration of food. However, BFSA is not a constitutional body, and has been placed under the control of Ministry of Food. Consequently, it still lacks the autonomy needed to function independently. The organization is supposed to ensure food safety at all stages starting from production to processing, preservation, and marketing. But it cannot do this alone, as coordinated actions are required in concert with other relevant ministries and departments. For example, specific doses of anti-biotics need to be applied for poultry and livestock as well as pisciculture, which require the cooperation of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock. Similarly, there are tendencies among farmers to apply hazardous pesticides on crops, which fall under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Agriculture. Awareness needs to be generated, and coordinated actions are required on these issues by all relevant agencies.
Both the producers and consumers have some responsibility in ensuring safe food, as the producers can never ensure it alone. They can produce organic food, but it has to be stored and transported before reaching the market. Therefore, attention has to be paid at all stages of production and marketing of food. And when it is procured by the consumer from the market, the onus of keeping it safe falls on him. Therefore, ensuring food safety requires an effective partnership among the producers, the marketers, the consumers, and the regulators. Platforms should be created that can facilitate discussions among all stakeholders on the production, storage, and marketing of safe cum nutritious food.
Ensuring safety requires proper management of food, which is derived from both plant and animal sources. Adulteration of food items takes place through numerous means and methods at all stages of food management. Excess chemicals and artificial dyes are often used in different types of items. Lack of awareness and understanding among producers and consumers also contributes to consumption of unsafe food, as commission of any error in the production, processing, or packaging of a food item can render it unsafe. Therefore, behavioural and social outlooks are also important in addressing this issue. Generation of food safety awareness in society is vital for enhancing safety. Side by side, stringent punishment for food polluters and adulterers must be ensured to discourage them from resorting to such practices.
Hygienic safety of outlets where food items are sold, including bazaars and restaurants, must also be ascertained. For example, testing salt is often used in restaurants, although it is unsafe. Besides, the settings in which food is cooked at restaurants in both rural and urban Bangladesh are often unhealthy and unhygienic in many cases. Similarly, vegetables, meat and fish are frequently sold from the same spot in most bazaars, and no safety or hygienic measures are adopted, thereby making the sold items unsafe. The drainage system at many of these places are also very poor, resulting in the likelihood of polluted items. There is therefore a need for regular monitoring and supervision of such establishments, but not enough resources including personnel are deployed for the purpose by the local government bodies and the BFSA.
Availability of organic food at fair price and on a larger scale is needed for supplying safe food to ordinary citizens. Besides, policies should be framed for return of products if those are found to be unsafe for human consumption. Much work is required from crop-field to the consumers' level for making food items safe. If the produced food itself is contaminated or becomes poisonous, then it can never be made healthy despite repeated processing. Excessive use of pesticides and chemical fertilisers is not only making the crops unsafe for human consumption, it is also contributing to environmental pollution and enhanced health hazards. Greater use of organic fertilisers and pesticides can help redress this issue.
In the above backdrop, effective measures must be taken for ensuring safe food for all citizens. The farmers should be imparted training on a massive scale on producing safe food through application of organic methods. Besides, as pointed out earlier, regular monitoring cum supervision of food outlets including bazaars and restaurants is required for ensuring safety. It is only through combined and concerted efforts of all stakeholders that safe food can reach the plates of consumers from the crop-fields of the farmers.
© 2025 - All Rights with The Financial Express
