Food adulteration : Apathy exacting a high cost

Shamsul Huq Zahid | Published: May 28, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

In its last Friday's issue an English contemporary front paged a picture showing a policeman dragging a bearded man (towards the police van), reportedly a trader at the city's Mohammadpur Krishi Market, while a few of his colleagues in uniform used batons on the latter. Â
The shirt the poor trader was wearing was torn into pieces during the scuffle that ensued when a mobile team, led by an executive magistrate, went to the market on Thursday to check whether the perishables, including fish and fruit, were formalin-free. The market in question last year was declared 'formalin-free' by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).
The trouble erupted when the traders protested the presence of the mobile team and barred the latter from checking food items in the market. At one stage, the traders, allegedly, threw stones and chunks of ice at the mobile team officials, prompting police to swing into action. At least 10 persons, including police personnel and journalists, were injured.
Why would the traders of a 'formalin-free' market be so aggressive if an official team wants to see whether the foods sold in that market are safe for human consumption?
The move, initiated by the FBCCI and supported by the ministry of commerce, to stop traders from selling of food items, mainly fish, vegetables and fruits, treated with formalin might have been genuine one. But those who knew the nature of traders, who are in most cases illiterate and indifferent to the hazards of using chemicals on food items, were very sceptical to the FBCCI's bid to make, at least, 11 kitchen markets of Dhaka city formalin-free. The chamber had made available the formalin detection tools to the market committees. Â
In fact, the sceptics have proved right. Though the market authorities claimed selling only formalin-free goods in the markets in questions, in reality, the foods treated with harmful chemicals continued to be sold to the consumers. Rather the traders taking advantage of the consumers' craze for 'formalin-free' food items started squeezing a few extra bucks out of the latter.
After some days, the consumers forgot the formalin issue and the market committees thought it convenient to shelve the FBCCI-donated formalin detection tools.
The last Thursday's drive by the mobile team made the traders angry because it wanted to reopen an issue that was no more 'bothering' the consumers.
In reality, the issue of adulterated and chemical-treated foods is very much alive in the minds of the consumers. But they have resigned to their fate knowing that there is, apparently, no way of stopping a section of dishonest and profit-hungry traders from the evil practice of adulterating food items.
Millions of consumers themselves cannot grow daily consumables in their backyard or manufacturing units. For survival they have to consume foods and if they are bent upon taking 'pure' and 'safe' foods only, they would have to remain hungry and die, ultimately.
The same contemporary ran another story Tuesday last revealing the results of the tests carried out by the Institute of Public Health on more than 10,000 samples of 50 food items, sent by sanitary inspectors of city corporations and municipalities from across the country. Barring the samples of three food items, the samples of all other food items were found to be adulterated.
For the purpose of adulteration, manufacturers and traders resort to the use of different items, including chemicals, which are harmful to human health, and other ingredients that, in some cases, are benign.
The poor and the rich as well are victims of food adulteration. But there exists a difference in the exposure to the threat. The rich and the upper middle class are relatively less exposed to the health risk as far as the consumption of manufactured food items is concerned. These classes of people usually buy these items produced by large companies that tend to produce safe food items. But the poor and middle class have no option other than buying food items produced by little known firms and companies.
However, both affluent and poorer sections of people are equally exposed to the risk of consuming perishable daily necessities such as fish, vegetables and fruits on which chemicals are used freely to lengthen their shelf-life.
The problem is that the traders at the market places are not the only people to use chemicals on food items. The crime is being committed even at the growers' level.
The authorities concerned, apparently, are either not adequately serious to address this huge national problem or clueless about the ways of dealing with it. In addition to strengthening drive against the sale and manufacturing of adulterated and chemical-treated food items and meting out tough punishments to the people involved in the criminal acts, the government should launch extensive campaign to make the manufacturers, traders and even growers at the grassroots aware of the dangers of using chemicals, including high doses of pesticides, on food crops and other food items. Extensive campaign throughout the country might prove to be more effective than punishment.
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