Examine accuracy of formalin detection kit: HC

The High Court Monday asked the government to examine the impugned formalin detection kit, Formaldehyde Meter Z-300, to find out its precision in order to dispel confusion, according to a news agency.
Passing the interim order, an HC division bench comprising Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Justice M Habibul Gani, also asked the Bangladesh Council for Science and Industry Research (BCSIR), Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI) and National Food Safety Laboratory to examine the Formaldehyde Meter Z-300 and submit reports within four weeks.
Responding to a public interest litigation writ petition (PIL), the HC also issued a rule asking the government to explain why the use of Formaldehyde Meter Z-300 to detect formalin foodstuffs and fruits should not be declared illegal.
The Health, Food, and Home Secretaries, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Director General of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) have been made respondents to the rule.
Bangladesh Fresh Food Importers’ Association president Sadhan Chandra Das and its secretary Sirajul Islam filed the writ petition in the form of public interest litigation (PIL).
Although the impugned Formaldehyde Meter Z-300 has been used by the administration to detect toxic formalin in food items across the country, the media, the business community and other quarters concerned have raised questions about its accuracy of the machine’s reading.