Toxic nutrients endanger public health
Monday, 10 May 2010
Food adulteration degrades standards of nutrition. But unfortunately, despite sporadic moves now and then, this country remains the rather undisturbed abode and all kinds of food adulterers who serve or sell toxic foodstuffs to the consumers.
For example, take the case of mangoes. This glory of tropical fruits is arriving in the markets of Dhaka city from the producing areas and are being purchased with zest by people in the city. The sellers in many cases are bringing in green and unripened mangoes and marketing them early in their bid to make super profits exploiting the enthusiasm of the consumers. But in order to give an attractive ripe appearance to the mangoes, they go for artificial ripening using deadly chemicals. The eating of such mangoes has been expertly and medically warned to be lethal for human health. From consumption of such mangoes and similarly ripened other tropical fruits, liver and kidneys of humans run the risk of severe damage -- and they may fall ill from cancers of different types.
The warnings are nothing new. The media has been airing these warnings for decades. This year is no different as the media is carrying reports on toxic fruit ripening and its consequences. This has led to some consumers on their own taking care not to buy and eat such toxic fruits. But these people are a minority. The vast number of the consumers of the country are still prone to succumbing to their temptations regardless of knowledge of the risks they run from consuming the toxic fruits. So, here comes the necessity of governmental action to smash the activities of such food adulterers.
Squads of the Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institution (BSTI), along with roving mobile teams of the Dhaka magistracy, were noted for doing some commendable works in recent days. They detected and seized large quantities of mangoes laced with chemicals from whole-sellers at one main land entry point in the city. Later the seized mangoes were destroyed with bulldozers.
But let it not be thought that this one-time vigilance and action will strike deep concern in the minds of adulterers about losing money and discourage them. Previous experiences only showed that they were hardly deterred and only engaged in their sins with greater intensity following such short-lived crackdowns. As it is, there are reasons to suspect that fruits made toxic from chemicals are still coming to the city on a large scale through other land and maritime routes. So, these drives have to be repeated frequently and extensively in this fruit season. This exercise should not be limited to only Dhaka city but needs to be extended to all parts of the country.
And not only fruits, adulteration of many items of daily foods such as ghee, cooking oil, spices and bakery products are noted. Safeguarding public health calls for sustained drives against adulteration of foods throughout the country. A comprehensive consumer protection act has come into force about a year ago. The mechanisms for fully enforcing this law should be developed at the fastest.
For example, take the case of mangoes. This glory of tropical fruits is arriving in the markets of Dhaka city from the producing areas and are being purchased with zest by people in the city. The sellers in many cases are bringing in green and unripened mangoes and marketing them early in their bid to make super profits exploiting the enthusiasm of the consumers. But in order to give an attractive ripe appearance to the mangoes, they go for artificial ripening using deadly chemicals. The eating of such mangoes has been expertly and medically warned to be lethal for human health. From consumption of such mangoes and similarly ripened other tropical fruits, liver and kidneys of humans run the risk of severe damage -- and they may fall ill from cancers of different types.
The warnings are nothing new. The media has been airing these warnings for decades. This year is no different as the media is carrying reports on toxic fruit ripening and its consequences. This has led to some consumers on their own taking care not to buy and eat such toxic fruits. But these people are a minority. The vast number of the consumers of the country are still prone to succumbing to their temptations regardless of knowledge of the risks they run from consuming the toxic fruits. So, here comes the necessity of governmental action to smash the activities of such food adulterers.
Squads of the Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institution (BSTI), along with roving mobile teams of the Dhaka magistracy, were noted for doing some commendable works in recent days. They detected and seized large quantities of mangoes laced with chemicals from whole-sellers at one main land entry point in the city. Later the seized mangoes were destroyed with bulldozers.
But let it not be thought that this one-time vigilance and action will strike deep concern in the minds of adulterers about losing money and discourage them. Previous experiences only showed that they were hardly deterred and only engaged in their sins with greater intensity following such short-lived crackdowns. As it is, there are reasons to suspect that fruits made toxic from chemicals are still coming to the city on a large scale through other land and maritime routes. So, these drives have to be repeated frequently and extensively in this fruit season. This exercise should not be limited to only Dhaka city but needs to be extended to all parts of the country.
And not only fruits, adulteration of many items of daily foods such as ghee, cooking oil, spices and bakery products are noted. Safeguarding public health calls for sustained drives against adulteration of foods throughout the country. A comprehensive consumer protection act has come into force about a year ago. The mechanisms for fully enforcing this law should be developed at the fastest.