Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel raided a factory producing fake herbal cosmetics located at a building in city's Lalbagh area a fortnight ago. A photograph of the factory published in a contemporary showed how a young boy was engaged in preparing paste in large containers by mixing a variety of dyes for selling those as face cream of famous Indian brand Ayur. A mobile court which led the drive fined the factory owner Taka 0.1 million (1.0 lakh) for producing counterfeit foreign herbal cosmetics. It was revealed that the factory was making spurious hair gel and cream for skin care for the last two months.
This factory is not a lone small firm producing fake cosmetics. Earlier, we reported in this column that counterfeit cosmetics and toiletries are on sale in large quantities in Dhaka city and elsewhere in the country. Some traders have admitted that the packaging of these fake cosmetics and toiletries are so faultless that they themselves find it difficult to differentiate between the genuine and the adulterated products. They have claimed that though a number of manufacturers are not in the trade now, the products are on sale in the market under their previous brands.
An employee of a cosmetic shop at the city's Moulvibazar said the popular brand of cosmetics they sell are not original. He also stated that they "have to sell adulterated products because of their high demand in the market". The trader has disclosed that the spurious cosmetics are produced mainly in Lalbagh, Hazaribagh and Kamrangir Char areas and also in some villages at Keraniganj across the river Buriganga.
The police are aware of such trade and crack down on the manufacturers from time to time. There are allegations that the manufacturers of fake products run their business with the help of a section of law enforcers.
Otherwise, how the supply of spurious items, one may assume, can be maintained when the sources of production are fully known to the authorities concerned.
The Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI)  is assigned to check cosmetics, food items, beverages, etc., either produced locally or imported, and certify whether those are fit for human health. The use of spurious cosmetics may cause various skin diseases. It is advisable that the BSTI should look into the matter seriously and take measures to stop manufacturing of those counterfeit products  with the help of law enforcers.
Reports reaching in Dhaka from various rural markets reveal that unscrupulous traders are again using red dye along with formalin in a variety of fish. They are doing it so that the buyers are attracted because of the fresh look of the fishes. The dye and formalin are mixed in the water in buckets and the new catches are immersed. The fish sellers are using formalin for quite a long time and now dye is added to allure buyers. Health officials at district and upazila levels, in many places, are aware of this unholy practice. But the trade continues unabated. In addition to formalin and dye, DDT is also being mixed in producing dry fish (Shutki), particularly in coastal areas of the country.
On the other hand, the Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan (BAPA), an environmental activists' association, has voiced concern over the bottled water and soft drinks. Most of the consumers are not aware of harmful effects of drinking water in plastic bottles, soft drinks and juices, BAPA says. Beverages in plastic bottles may impair body's immune system. An expert on soft drinks is of the opinion that these drinks contain acid, water and sugar and are not at all useful for health as consumers think. Soft drinks contain neurotoxin, compressed carbon dioxide which contribute to the damaging of nervous system. It is not true that the soft drinks quench thirst. Rather, they consume water from the body. Â
Such observation on beverages needs serious attention on the part of relevant authorities for the sake of protecting public health and the consumers have the right to know what they are actually drinking.
E-mail: khalilbdh@gmail.com
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