The forgotten research establishments
Tuesday, 23 October 2007
Syed Fattahul Alim
THAT poisons in foodstuff are a public health concern is not simply a domestic issue. The problem is also affecting the country's external trade in that Bangladesh's frozen food export has been adversely affected by toxic materials of both chemical and microbial origin. It may be recalled that in 1997 the European Union (EU) slapped a ban on the export of Bangladeshi shrimp to its market because the consignments contained toxic substance in the form of micro-organisms.
What has been narrated in the foregoing should not be looked upon as an ordinary statement of fact. For since imposition of that ban, Bangladesh's economy has suffered so far as its foreign exchange earning through overseas business is concerned.
The problem has not stopped there. Recently the EU rejected 10 consignments of foodstuffs from Bangladesh. The food articles thus rejected include frozen peeled shrimp, mango, pickles of olive, chalta, satkara, green chilli, and chanachur. This is a very dangerous signal for exports from Bangladesh, since frozen fish, vegetables and various other kinds of foodstuff constitute a considerable chunk of the rather narrow export basket of the country.
At a recently held seminar organised by the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) at the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), national and international experts on food science and toxicology and other stakeholders dwelt at length on the various aspects of the safety standards of foodstuffs and how to maintain those to fulfil the requirements of the Western markets, especially those of the European Union, EU. The head of the IFST said, food items consigned for EU market were not tested for the existence of any toxic substance or organism before they were shipped. The reason is such testing facility did not exist in the country. While admitting this lacuna, the head of IFST Dr. Formuzul Huq informed in the same breath that a toxicological research laboratory was now in place and duly outfitted with the most sophisticated research tools like the LC/MS/MS systems. With these advanced testing tools, the exporters would now be able have samples of perishable items like exportable foodstuffs tested within only two days before their shipment.
Establishment of such an advanced laboratory to test the existence of toxic substance in foodstuffs is indisputably an achievement of sorts. However, rejection of our contaminated food articles for export by the EU has been instrumental in the development of this testing laboratory. Notwithstanding the fact that a negative occurrence has led to the creation of the toxicological laboratory, there is still reason to rejoice at the development. Unsurprisingly though, it is often out of compulsion, intervention from outside or driven by negative impulse or reaction that we go for some positive action. However that may be, in the present case, the exporters of foodstuffs in the overseas markets should not have waited for this disgraceful experience of rejection to awaken them to the need for setting up an advanced toxicological research laboratory in the first place.
The reverses that the country's foreign trade in the area of exporting frozen food and other foodstuff have faced were uncalled for. The authorities concerned should have taken the necessary steps to avoid repetition of the same experience again, especially after the occurrence of 1997.
It would not be out of place to mention here that the BCSIR laboratory where the IFST, the organiser of the workshop, is situated, is itself one of the oldest institution of the country for carrying out fundamental scientific research. Scores of scientists dedicated to pure research have spent their entire life in this institution. Regrettably though, these professional researchers are doing their work in a state of utter neglect. If truth be told, the scientific community of the country is a forgotten lot. Small wonder the talented graduates in science from our universities are no more interested to join institutions of fundamental research like the BCSIR laboratory. It is also one of the reasons why brain drain is rampant here.
The arguments against maintaining such research institutions are legion. It is often said that a poor, least developed economy like Bangladesh can hardly afford the luxury of bankrolling institutions specialising in fundamental research. And as expected, it is the problem of fund constraint that comes in the way. Interestingly though, budgetary constraints have never deterred the successive governments from maintaining many top-heavy and wasteful organisations in the administration.
In the final analysis, however, institutions of basic research in science are not wasteful. They pay in the long run as they can support business development through product innovation as well as other means. The laboratory facility for testing products for their quality is one such support that basic research can provide to business and industry. Contrasted with many newly emerging developing economies, Bangladesh should be proud to have an infrastructure of basic research in science and technology. Had there been a proper policy to utilise those institutions in the service of business and industry, Bangladesh could well enjoy the benefits derivable from them ahead of many of its international competitors.
As the head of the IFST indicated at the seminar, the existence of a testing laboratory is not the sufficient condition that businesses or other stakeholders would have their food products tested from the laboratory on their own. Again, some compulsion is necessary to ensure that those concerned get their products duly tested. Enactment of laws to this effect would meet this requirement. The law would not only go a long way towards helping our food products gaining easy entry into the overseas markets, it would also contribute towards maintaining the standard of our public health.
So far the discussion centred on how the absence of an advanced testing facility to verify the existence of toxic substances in foodstuffs was affecting the external trade. At the seminar mentioned in the foregoing, the principal of the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) portrayed a dismal picture so far as the issue of public health is concerned. He informed that every year about 500 patients are treated at the DMCH for pesticide poisoning. There are some 200 so-called safe pesticides in the market. Those are used in the crop fields, to protect fruits and crops from the attack of pests and bugs. Poisonous chemicals like formaldehyde are used to preserve fruits, fishes and other kinds of perishables.
The poisons, after entering the food chain, finally settle in the human body. There are poisons that kill a person quickly, while others do the job rather slowly. Poisons in the food chain, have therefore, turned into the worst hazard to public health.
Poisons, therefore, are not only leaving a negative influence on trade and commerce, it is also a serious concern for public health. But to address this and other related problems effectively, the government needs to reinvigorate the scientific institutions where basic researches are done. Once the government begins to pay more attention to the scientific research institutions and provide adequate funds, they will be able to address a whole range of issues from poisons in the foodstuffs to innovating new products and thereby contribute to the business, industry, or the economy, for that matter, more significantly.
THAT poisons in foodstuff are a public health concern is not simply a domestic issue. The problem is also affecting the country's external trade in that Bangladesh's frozen food export has been adversely affected by toxic materials of both chemical and microbial origin. It may be recalled that in 1997 the European Union (EU) slapped a ban on the export of Bangladeshi shrimp to its market because the consignments contained toxic substance in the form of micro-organisms.
What has been narrated in the foregoing should not be looked upon as an ordinary statement of fact. For since imposition of that ban, Bangladesh's economy has suffered so far as its foreign exchange earning through overseas business is concerned.
The problem has not stopped there. Recently the EU rejected 10 consignments of foodstuffs from Bangladesh. The food articles thus rejected include frozen peeled shrimp, mango, pickles of olive, chalta, satkara, green chilli, and chanachur. This is a very dangerous signal for exports from Bangladesh, since frozen fish, vegetables and various other kinds of foodstuff constitute a considerable chunk of the rather narrow export basket of the country.
At a recently held seminar organised by the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) at the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), national and international experts on food science and toxicology and other stakeholders dwelt at length on the various aspects of the safety standards of foodstuffs and how to maintain those to fulfil the requirements of the Western markets, especially those of the European Union, EU. The head of the IFST said, food items consigned for EU market were not tested for the existence of any toxic substance or organism before they were shipped. The reason is such testing facility did not exist in the country. While admitting this lacuna, the head of IFST Dr. Formuzul Huq informed in the same breath that a toxicological research laboratory was now in place and duly outfitted with the most sophisticated research tools like the LC/MS/MS systems. With these advanced testing tools, the exporters would now be able have samples of perishable items like exportable foodstuffs tested within only two days before their shipment.
Establishment of such an advanced laboratory to test the existence of toxic substance in foodstuffs is indisputably an achievement of sorts. However, rejection of our contaminated food articles for export by the EU has been instrumental in the development of this testing laboratory. Notwithstanding the fact that a negative occurrence has led to the creation of the toxicological laboratory, there is still reason to rejoice at the development. Unsurprisingly though, it is often out of compulsion, intervention from outside or driven by negative impulse or reaction that we go for some positive action. However that may be, in the present case, the exporters of foodstuffs in the overseas markets should not have waited for this disgraceful experience of rejection to awaken them to the need for setting up an advanced toxicological research laboratory in the first place.
The reverses that the country's foreign trade in the area of exporting frozen food and other foodstuff have faced were uncalled for. The authorities concerned should have taken the necessary steps to avoid repetition of the same experience again, especially after the occurrence of 1997.
It would not be out of place to mention here that the BCSIR laboratory where the IFST, the organiser of the workshop, is situated, is itself one of the oldest institution of the country for carrying out fundamental scientific research. Scores of scientists dedicated to pure research have spent their entire life in this institution. Regrettably though, these professional researchers are doing their work in a state of utter neglect. If truth be told, the scientific community of the country is a forgotten lot. Small wonder the talented graduates in science from our universities are no more interested to join institutions of fundamental research like the BCSIR laboratory. It is also one of the reasons why brain drain is rampant here.
The arguments against maintaining such research institutions are legion. It is often said that a poor, least developed economy like Bangladesh can hardly afford the luxury of bankrolling institutions specialising in fundamental research. And as expected, it is the problem of fund constraint that comes in the way. Interestingly though, budgetary constraints have never deterred the successive governments from maintaining many top-heavy and wasteful organisations in the administration.
In the final analysis, however, institutions of basic research in science are not wasteful. They pay in the long run as they can support business development through product innovation as well as other means. The laboratory facility for testing products for their quality is one such support that basic research can provide to business and industry. Contrasted with many newly emerging developing economies, Bangladesh should be proud to have an infrastructure of basic research in science and technology. Had there been a proper policy to utilise those institutions in the service of business and industry, Bangladesh could well enjoy the benefits derivable from them ahead of many of its international competitors.
As the head of the IFST indicated at the seminar, the existence of a testing laboratory is not the sufficient condition that businesses or other stakeholders would have their food products tested from the laboratory on their own. Again, some compulsion is necessary to ensure that those concerned get their products duly tested. Enactment of laws to this effect would meet this requirement. The law would not only go a long way towards helping our food products gaining easy entry into the overseas markets, it would also contribute towards maintaining the standard of our public health.
So far the discussion centred on how the absence of an advanced testing facility to verify the existence of toxic substances in foodstuffs was affecting the external trade. At the seminar mentioned in the foregoing, the principal of the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) portrayed a dismal picture so far as the issue of public health is concerned. He informed that every year about 500 patients are treated at the DMCH for pesticide poisoning. There are some 200 so-called safe pesticides in the market. Those are used in the crop fields, to protect fruits and crops from the attack of pests and bugs. Poisonous chemicals like formaldehyde are used to preserve fruits, fishes and other kinds of perishables.
The poisons, after entering the food chain, finally settle in the human body. There are poisons that kill a person quickly, while others do the job rather slowly. Poisons in the food chain, have therefore, turned into the worst hazard to public health.
Poisons, therefore, are not only leaving a negative influence on trade and commerce, it is also a serious concern for public health. But to address this and other related problems effectively, the government needs to reinvigorate the scientific institutions where basic researches are done. Once the government begins to pay more attention to the scientific research institutions and provide adequate funds, they will be able to address a whole range of issues from poisons in the foodstuffs to innovating new products and thereby contribute to the business, industry, or the economy, for that matter, more significantly.