& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Adulterated food, toxic colours

SOHEL ISLAM
Iftar delicacies and most fruits available in the market are no longer safe. They contain carbide and colours that may cause serious health hazards
Iftar delicacies are no longer healthfriendly, as adulterated food has flooded city markets because of legal laxity.
"We try all out to check the sale of adulterated items. But the Pure Food Act framed in 1959 is too lax to prevent traders from selling these products," said an official of Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) Health Department, responsible for legal action against the adulterated food sellers.
The penalty of a violator by the DCC court can be at best a fine of Tk 400. "Most offenders can get away by paying only the fines. If we do not update the law, we won't be able to check adulteration," he said.
With the beginning of Ramadan, the sale of carbide-ripened fruits and coloured iftar specials has become rampant.
Colours, often toxic, are mixed in popular iftar items like beguni and ilepi and carbide is used to ripen green fruits like banana, papaya and wood apple.
"None of the colours used in iftar items is approved by the World Health Organisation. They are mostly used in fabrics and may cause serious health hazards," said Prof Keramat Ali of Dhaka University.
"A few months back, we filed 22 cases against violators who mixed carbide powder with fruits. But they all escaped, paying the fines," the DCC official said.
Although this is not a season of mango, carbide-ripened mangoes are up for sale. "Fruit vendors are also ripening wood apples and selling them," he said.
"We have almost stopped filing cases
against food adulterators. Now we are trying to motivate people not to buy adulterated food. If the law is not amended, it won't be possible for us to stop adulteration," the official despaired of anti-adulteration measures.
The artificially ripened fruits have a deceptive look. "The fruits matured with carbide are more attractive than natural ones," he said.
"Each year, we raise our voice against adulteration. We hold meetings with the government, but nothing substantial has been done," said Quazi Salamatullah, director of Institute of Nutrition and Food Science of Dhaka University.
The food containing carbide and colours causes serious health hazards. "Now we have to listen to too many cases of cancer as adulteration is rife," Salamatullah said.
Activists of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa) at an October 31 rally protested the sale of adulterated and contaminated food items in roadside outlets during Ramadan.
They demanded immediate intervention of the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI), Dhaka City Corporation and Department of Health to put an end to adulteration and use of toxic elements in food.
"Of the authorities, neither is ensuring public right of safe food," said Maidul Huq of Bapa.