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Down to Earth

The Spectre of Adulteration

By A S M Nurunnabi
Adulteration practices are ubiquitous at present tn the city as elsewhere. The Incidence of such practices affects not only foodstuffs and medicines but also every conceivable area of consumption The widespread nature of the menace has become a cause for alarm among classes of people. The adul teration techniques are also found to be novel and Ingenuous which keep changing to avoid detection and effective deterring actions.
The main targets of adul teration use to be foodstuffs like milk, edible oil. flour, sugar, medicines, etc. Nowa days it is difficult to get unadulterated milk or edible oil. Since the adulteration practices don't spare antibiotics and other life-saving drugs, they pose a serious threat to the health of the people. Instances of pieces of fruits sold by vendors on city pavements which are treated with colour and saccarine to make them attractive and sweet are plentiful. Adulter afion of edible oils is rampant. These are common in stances of threats to our health in our daily fife.
To many, the Zinzira area of Dhaka is considered to be the home of fake and low • quality goods. There were reports on the existence of factories making large-scale production of adulterated vegetable ghee and market -.Ing it by using well-known
brand names There are also reports of manufacture Jn this area of lake dry-cei) bat trrtes. bearing well-known brand names, adulterated mustard and soyabean oils, cosmetics., spurious China made transistor radios, locks and a host of other spurious products which find easy market hmong the rural people. Dholai Khal area in the city similarly carries ill-repute as a source of fake mechanical items Another source of adulterated foods is the large number of minor hotels and restaurants sen ing dubious quality foods to customers under poor sant tary conditions which pose a serious threst to public health.
The growing menace calls for strong deterring actions It ts felt that the existing laws for dealing with the problem are not adequate or stringent enough. These laws are also reportedly not prop erly enforced on account of several factors. First, the laxity and indifference of the enforcing agencies concerned. Powerful and organised groups are said to be behind the adulteration rackets. It is alleged that these groups possessing considerable financial clout manage to render ineffective any serious drive against them through devious means and taking advantage of any loopholes in the existing laws. The isolated cases that are detected are said to be
small fries and they hardly make little difference to the large-scale adulteration scenario.
The Bangladesh Standards ' and Testing Institute (BST1) has the statutory role of looking after the. quality control aspects of all manufactured commodities ranging from foodstuffs to all other consumer items. Some sources allege that inspite of statutory requirement for various industries and manufacturing units In the country to get clearance certificate of the BST1. such requirement ia not followed tn many cases There are also allegations that after getting their samples of products certified by the BSTl. the certified quality Is not maintained by some producers later.
The Importance of the BSTI In checking the tide of adulteration is said to be pivotal. since It is the only organisation In the country vested with the authority to certify the quality and standard of a product by proper testing, thereby freeing the market from adulterated and low quality products.
If the adulteration culture Is not tackled with a firm hand. It involves the risk of exerting adverse impact on the economy of the country by the creation of consumer preference for foreign goods. Thereby the healthy growth of our industries Is liable to be impeded.