Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) has been monitoring the withdrawal of French baby foods from the local market for bacterial contamination in many countries, officials have said.
Besides, the authority at a meeting on Monday decided to continue for next three months to carry out inspection of alleged presence of heavy metals in imported fish.
"We formed a four-member committee on December 31 to monitor the recalling of baby foods manufactured by French dairy group Lactalis," BFSA chairman Mohammad Mahfuzul Hoque told the FE at his office.
After getting informed of the contamination, he also said, the authority has been warning consumers and traders against the contamination since December 15 through notices published in national dailies.
"If the products are not recalled from the market duly, legal actions as per food safety law will be taken against the businesses dealing in the products," he added.
A company named JES International imported several baby items manufactured by Lactalis including 'Baby Care-1' and 'Baby Care-2'.
According to sources, more than 20,000 cartons of baby products have been brought to the country in phases. Of them, nearly 7,000 cartons might have been sold last year.
The authority sealed off 11,616 cartons at the importer's warehouses on January 01, said Mr Hoque. As of January 14, 993 cartons and 6 pieces of Lactalis baby products have been withdrawn from the country's market, he added.
"We cannot take any risk by allowing the sales of contaminated baby foods in the market," he said, adding that the authority will take legal action against the sellers.
When contacted, Jawadul Huq, a partner of JES International, said the company has been abiding by all the directives issued by the BFSA.
"We published several public circulars in national dailies and recalled the products from the market," he said.
However, he claimed that the products brought to Bangladesh are not contaminated as samples were tested at the laboratory of Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR).
According to international media, the salmonella scandal at French dairy group Lactalis has affected 83 countries, including Bangladesh.
Twelve million boxes of powdered baby milk are being recalled from these countries, the company's CEO said in an interview with French media on Sunday.
"We must take account the scale of this operation: more than 12 million boxes are affected," he said, adding that distributors would no longer have to sort through the produce to find the contaminated powder.
Meanwhile, a meeting on 'heavy metal contamination in imported fish in Bangladesh' was held at the BFSA headquarters on Monday.
"We have decided to continue examining imported fish for next three months for the sake of public health," the BFSA chairman told the FE.
During this period, samples from all consignments will be examined by the government laboratories. "Next course of actions will be decided based on the findings during this period," he said.
He also said the authority will request Department of Fisheries (DoF) to contact fish exporting countries to ensure all safety standards before sending the consignment to Bangladesh.
Representatives of the BFSA, DoF and fish importers were present at the meeting.
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