The recent seizure of ten truckloads of spurious ingredients used for manufacturing cosmetics and toiletries by the law enforcers in the city has surprised many. This reflects to what extent fakery has gone deep into the society exposing public health to serious hazards.
The large scale manufacturing of counterfeit cosmetics and toiletries came to light when a team of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) raided as many as 18 factories in the city's Malitola.
A mobile court which led the drive arrested two factory owners and sentenced them to suffer two years in jail and fined Taka 2,00000 each.
 The mobile court interrogated factory workers and allowed them to go. A factory employee told the law enforcers that liquid soap used for washing clothes in garment factories is turned into shampoo by mixing chemical dyes and aromatic substances. Both the agents are not meant for use in human body.
On the other hand, the factory worker disclosed that low quality indigenous wine treated with a variety of colours is developed into body spray. The spray presents a look and fragrance of a genuine product.
One of the factory owners, reported by the media, told RAB officials that for more than two decades his main job is to collect empty containers of cosmetics and perfumes from house to house. The man is now a wholesaler of empty containers.
In course of raid the RAB team seized large quantities of counterfeit labels, chemicals, holograms and other materials. The empty containers seized from the factories are rich collection of world famous brands that include Head and Shoulder, Clear, Sunsilk, Pantene,Dove, Brute and Havoc.
Such spurious products are being sent to markets all over the country for quite a long time, according to factory owner.
To what extent these fake cosmetics and toiletries will harm the users is a subject of medical profession. But it is sure that the skin health of a user will be badly affected and the application of shampoo may result in quick hair fall.
After the seizure of fake materials of cosmetics and toiletries, the RAB in a statement called upon the people to destroy their empty containers so that these cannot be sold and refilled with spurious materials.
 In another raid conducted recently, the RAB unearthed a factory producing fake herbal cosmetics in city's Lalbagh area.A photograph of the factory published in a local daily showed how a young boy was engaged in preparing paste in large containers by mixing different 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 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.
As we told earlier in this column that counterfeit cosmetics and toiletries are on sale in large quantities in Dhaka city and elsewhere in the country. Some traders, according to press reports, 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 claimed that though a number of manufacturers are not in the trade the products are on sale in the market under their previous brands.
An employee of a cosmetic shop at the city's Moulvibazar said that the popular brand of cosmetics they sell are not original. He was also reported to have stated that they have to sell adulterated products because of their high demand in the market. The trader 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. At times mobile court realises fine from them. 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.
The Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI)  is assigned to check cosmetics, food items, beverages, etc., either produced locally or imported and certify whether those are fit for human consumption. Â
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 manufacture of those counterfeit products  with the help of law enforcers.
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