Tonnes of toxic poultry and fish feed continue to find their way into markets across the country exposing public health to serious hazards. About a fortnight ago a mobile court asked relevant departments to destroy three hundred tonnes of poultry and fish feed manufactured by using toxic wastes from as many as 200 tanneries in city's Hazaribagh area. The mobile court also ordered closure of four factories there. The tannery wastes contained chromium and other chemicals harmful to human body.
The court also instructed the authorities concerned to register cases against the factory owners on charge of producing poultry and fish feed with toxic tannery wastes, a local daily reported.
Furthermore, the mobile court which conducted the drive at Hazaribagh with the help of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel found a large godown stacked with poultry and fish feed in hundreds of sacks. Heaps of discarded pieces of leather and other toxic ingredients were found stored in the factories for preparing feeds. The owners of the factories where the drive was conducted had been absconding, according to a press report.
The department of livestock is assigned to accord permission for producing and marketing of poultry feeds. Without the approval of livestock department, none can prepare poultry and fish feeds and sell those. The factories at Hazaribagh have been producing poultry and fish feeds without permission from livestock department, according to the daily.
The demand for poultry and fish feeds in the country is about 3.0 million tonnes annually. The feeds that are prepared from tannery wastes are much cheaper than those manufactured from imported ingredients. This attracts unscrupulous traders to the business. A recent study conducted by Dhaka University researchers has detected 249 mg to 4561 mg of chromium in each kg of chicken that was fed with tannery wastes. The study also reveals that the safe level of chromiumis from 10 mg to 60 mg.
On the other hand, owners of a large number of factories producing poultry and fish feed with toxic tannery wastes have shifted their units to distant places across the river Buriganga. The producers of poultry and fish feed have clearly violated a High Court (HC) order prohibiting the use of tannery wastes. The Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) in a test conducted earlier had found existence of heavy metals in poultry and fish feed. The feed is prepared with solid tannery wastes. The BCSIR also found lead in poultry feed at harmful levels. About two dozens of chemicals are applied to process leather. The tannery wastes used for producing poultry and fish feed, therefore, turn into toxic substance.
On July 11, 2011 the High Court in a verdict asked the government to stop the use of tannery wastes in producing poultry and fish feed within a month. The High Court had also directed the government to close down all those factories engaged in such a practice. According to a report, a large number of traders in Hazaribagh area in the city supply tannery wastes to about two dozens of factories now producing poultry and fish feed across the country.
The adulteration is not confined to poultry and fish feed alone. As we reported in this column earlier, a private TV channel in a video footage showed how milk is being adulterated in a large number of villages in Sirajganj district. The local dairy owners were found liberally mixing chemicals to prepare Ghee and liquid milk. They take their products to big 'arathdars' at different points for sale. The 'arathdars' (wholesalers), in turn, arrange supply of adulterated liquid milk and milk products to other districts.
E-mail : khalilbdh@gmail.com
No end to toxic poultry feed supply
Khalilur Rahman | Published: August 03, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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