A journey towards making food safe

Getting safe food for consumption is a fundamental right of the citizens. But still it is highly scarce despite the availability of food items in the markets.
Food safety means the conditions and practices that preserve the quality of food to prevent contamination and food-borne illnesses.
Bangladesh is over burdened with laws for making food safe. But the implementation remains patchy.
Contamination of foods with toxic chemicals poses a serious threat to public health, especially in a country like Bangladesh where the level of awareness is very low due to poor health literacy.
Adulteration of food with toxic chemicals harmful to health has reached an epidemic proportion in Bangladesh.
Poisonous Dichloro Diphenyl Trichloroethane (DDT) powder is unrestrainedly used in dry fish, which can cause cancer along with various other reproductive problems.
Foods are prepared with various toxic colours that are generally used as dyes in the textile industry.
Consumption of these toxic textile dyes can cause indigestions, allergies, asthma, cancer and so on.
Besides, manufacturers use urea fertiliser commercially to adulterate 'moori' (puffed rice).
Sick, infected and poisonous dead chickens are used in soup preparation, suppliers and retailers sell date-expired energy drink, and biscuits randomly.
Metals such as lead and mercury cause neurological damage in infants and children. Exposure to cadmium can also cause kidney damage, usually seen in the elderly.
There are around 20 million renal/kidney patients in the country.
Fruits, fishes and many other things sold in markets are preserved with formalin, a dangerous chemical, which can cause various types of cancer.
The newspapers have dubbed it the 'silent killer'. It is very difficult to find a sector of food industry, which is free from adulteration.
From raw vegetables and fruits to milk and milk products to fish, meat and processed food-every food item is contaminated.
Carbide, formalin, heavy metal, chemical, textile colours, artificial sweeteners, DDT, urea etc. are used widely in food items.
Immediate effect of ingestion of such foods may cause severe forms of diarrhoea (food poisoning), which in most cases life threatening.
In the long run, these chemicals in food adversely affect vital organs such as the liver and kidney resulting in organ failure and/or cancer and thus, untimely loss of life.
There is no database in the country for these, but the recent surge in liver and kidney failure patients in the hospitals is indicative of the deteriorating situation.
Ironically, people from all walks of life are aware of the hazards of taking foods adulterated with toxic chemicals, but this knowledge cannot be translated into practice.
Following years of demand from the citizens and the right activists, the government has finally setup a regulatory authority to ensure safe food for the citizens.
The Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA), which the government formed, has started functioning to ensure safe food for the citizens.    
The BFSA has not played its due role since its inception in ensuring food safety due to lack of sufficient logistics supports.
The shortage of manpower and the absence of required rules and regulations have been deterring the BFSA from functioning properly even over one and a half years of its establishment.
Health experts and green activists suggested the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) control the use of pesticide in food production and food adulteration to protect public health.
They also suggested the implementation of Formalin Control Act 2015 and Safe Food Act 2013, allowing imports formalin through the trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) and paying heed to people's demand, forcing industrialists and factory owners to set up effluent treatment plant (ETF), forming food courts and employing sufficient food instructors in every district level of Bangladesh and inspire farmers to use natural fertilisers instead of pesticides.
"If the BFSA could implement its responsibility properly then it will be possible to ensure safe food for the people," director of Institute of Nutrition and Food Science of Dhaka University Prof Dr Nazma Shaheen told the FE.
She suggested upgrading/ developing/ improving the existing labs and creating more food experts/ nutritionists, which is essential for ensuring safe food for the people.
The Parliament passed the Food Safety Act, 2013 on October 10, 2013 (after repealing and re-enacting the existing outdated laws in this regard) in order to make provisions for ensuring citizens' rights to safe food for the protection of human health and life.
The BFSA could not carry out drive properly as there are now no regulations of the existing law, delaying its functions to ensure 'safe food' for the people.
But of late, the authorities of BFSA have started drafting some regulations for carrying out its operation effectively and smoothly.
The Bangladesh National Parliament passed the Food Safety Act, 2013 on October 10, 2013 (after repealing and re-enacting the existing outdated laws in this regards) in order to make provisions for ensuring citizens rights towards access to safe food for the protection of human health and life.
Besides, the passage of law paved the way for the formation of BFSA. The BFSA was set up on February 2, 2015, which is committed to ensuring safe food for the people by utilising its full strength.
The BFSA will regulate the activities relating to food production, import, processing, stockpiling, supplying, marketing and sales.
"We are in the process of preparing regulations," chairman of BFSA Mohammad Mahfuzul Hoque told the FE.
He said the BFSA has completed a draft regulation on additives. It is now preparing the regulations on sampling, hygiene and others.
The BFSA has got Tk 100 million for the current fiscal year from the government to run its activities.  
Mr Hoque said that the BFSA has drafted a Strategic Plan 2016-2021.
The authority of BFSA has requested the ministry of public administration for appointing 1004 manpower. But the ministry gave approval for the recruitment of only 422 people.
The recruitment of 422 manpower will take some time due to the completion of some bureaucratic formalities, making delay in carrying out BFSA activities properly and leaving people from their rights of getting safe food, according to the BFSA.
The BFSA is coordinating with 18 ministries and 400 organisations/ departments in order to ensure safe food.
It has the authority to give instructions to the ministries and departments for ensuring safe food.
Since its inception The BFSA has carried out a few drives through mobile courts, which made a little progress in ensuring safe food.   
"It is a big challenge. We need coordinated efforts from ministries and agencies to ensure safe food for the people of the country," Mr Hoque said.
At present, only 10 persons (against the required number of 11, including chairman, members and secretary) are now looking after the activities of the BFSA.
The chairman said that all the sanitary inspectors across the country are now looking after the safe food issue.
"We've started some campaigns for creating mass awareness among the people about safe food," the chairman of BFSA mentioned.
"We welcome all-out support from all food control agencies, food business operators and people of the country towards the goal of establishing a modern food safety system in Bangladesh to contribute to the government's Vision 2021," he said.
He said the BFSA is now continuing a campaign that includes distributing leaflets and pasting posters all over the country to create mass awareness about food safety.
The writer is a Staff Reporter of The Financial Express.
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