The holy month of Ramadan is the time when Muslims fasting during the day are found to consume a variety of food items.
Whether the lavish consumption of food items is against the very religious spirit of fasting is a matter of interpretation by the Islamic scholars.
But the eateries, food outlets and producers of food items have been cashing in on the propensity of the Muslims in this part of the world to eat more during Ramadan. They produce a variety of food items that the people like to consume more during iftar (breaking of fast) time. There should be no reason to grumble about that.
But there are valid reasons to be worried if the eateries and other food outlets indulge in the crime of adulterating food items with a view to making greater amount of profit.
A Dhaka daily last Sunday carried a report that said that during the drives carried out separately by the Bangladesh Standard Testing Institute (BSTI), the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) in Dhaka city in the holy month of Ramadan against food adulteration, 166 persons were sent to prisons and Tk 23.3 million collected as fines from the food outlets either for producing or selling adulterated food items. Among the accused were a few big names in the world of eateries and food chain shops.
The consumers are used to witnessing this type of sudden drives against food adulteration by the law enforcing agencies and the BSTI, particularly during Ramadan. But there must be a catch in it. Why should these agencies demonstrate their unusual enthusiasm about launching drive against food adulteration during pre-Eid days? Consumers do also buy food items from these outlets throughout the year.
It seems that there has not been any improvement in the food adulteration situation in the country. Anti-adulteration drives are carried out sporadically. Such drives create a sort of temporary panic among the traders and manufacturers involved in the crime.
But they indulge in the same criminal activities as soon as the raids are called off. Besides, the fines and prison sentences meted out to the offenders are insignificant compared to the dividends the criminals accrue from the acts of adulteration.
Unless the people involved in the crime of food adulteration are hit below the belt relentlessly, the chances of their giving up the crime appear to be slim.
For instance, there was a major drive on the part of the DMP last year to stop entry of chemical-treated mangoes into Dhaka city. A large quantity of chemical-treated mangoes was destroyed during the raid that had lasted for about a month. The mango traders were hit-hard. This year the use of chemical on mangoes was very negligible.
The reason for large-scale adulteration of food items has been the lack of sustained actions against the crime. The relevant agencies do very often cite the shortage of manpower and logistics in support of their inaction. That might be partly true. But the problems are not insurmountable.
The presence of magistrates is a must during the anti-adulteration drives. The availability of magistrates remains a problem. But the administration can easily solve the problem if it desires so.
In addition to agencies such as BSTI, DMP, RAB, the two city corporations of Dhaka have their own food control and sanitation departments that are responsible for visiting restaurants and other food outlets to detect incidents of food adulteration. But supervisors employed there to carry out the job do hardly shoulder that responsibility.
There is another entity called the directorate of national consumer rights protection (DNCRP) which is empowered to take tough punitive actions against violations of consumers' rights, including adulteration of food stuffs. The directorate has its offices in 39 districts.
According to the relevant act, it is empowered to form consumers' right protection committees even at upazila and union levels. But, unfortunately, even six years after its formation, not many people are aware of the existence of the directorate. Its officials are rarely seen in actions aimed at protecting the interest of the consumers.
Moreover, whatever actions taken against adulteration or counterfeiting are Dhaka-centric as if other areas are immune to these kinds of criminal activities.
In neighbouring Indian state of Passchimbongo, the government puts up advertisement regularly in both print and electronic media making the consumers aware of their rights and steps they should initiate to get justice.
Thus, creating greater awareness among the consumers about their rights and sustained actions against adulteration and violation of consumers' rights could only help gradual elimination of acts of adulteration and cheating by the traders, manufacturers and providers of various services.
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