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LAWS FOR everyday life

The right to have unadulterated food
Adulteration of food articles is an offence under the Pure Food Ordinance, 1959 providing minor penalties of different kinds. Taking advantage of such minor penalties the unscrupulous traders started mixing injurious materials with almost every food articles like fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, flour etc. which necessitated an amendment of the Pure Food Ordinance, 1959 in 2005 by the Bangladesh Pure Food (Amendment) Act, 2005 widening definition of adulteration and the scope of the law and also enhancing the punishment of the offences.
Adulteration of foodstuffs is an act of dishonest tradesmen who intend to make maximum profit from minimum investment. Random manufacture of adulterated foodstuffs unsuitable for human consumption led to a resolve to combat this trend in order to maintain a standard of purity for the preservation of public health.
The Pure Food Ordinance, 1959 Chapter II, Manufacture and Sale of food
Prohibition of manufacture or sale offood not of proper nature, substance or quality
6. (1) No person shall, directly or indirectly and whether by himself or by any other person acting on his behalf,-
(a) manufacture or sell any article of food which is adulterated, or
(b) sell to the prejudice of the purchaser any article of food which is not of the nature, substance or quality demanded by the purchaser.
(2) An offence shall not be deemed to have been committed under sub-section (1), if the article of food contains the normal constituents prescribed under clause (a) of subsection (1) of section 5, and if the chemical and physical constants of the article are in accordance with those referred to in the said clause-
fa) where any innocuous substance or ingredient has been added thereto, if such
substance or ingredient-
(I) is required for the production or preparation of such article as an article of commerce in a condition fit for carriage or consumption, and
(ii) is not so added fraudulently to increase the bulk weight or measure, or to conceal the inferior quality, of such article:
Provided that the admixture of such substance or ingredient does not render such article to be injurious to health; or
(b) where any constituent has been abstracted therefrom if such abstraction is required for the production or preparation of such article as an article of commerce fit for carriage or consumption and does not render such article to be injurious to health; or
(c) where a patent has been granted under any law for the time being in force, if such article is manufactured or sold in the condition required by the specification of the patent.
(3) The opinion of the public analyst on the question whether any substance or ingredient
is innocuous shall, subject to the provisions of section 32, be conclusive evidence on such question.
(4) In any prosecution under this section,-
(a) it shall not be a defence to allege-
(i) that the purchaser bought for analysis or examination and therefore was not prejudiced, or
(ii) that the person who manufactured or sold the article of food had no knowledge of, and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained, its nature, substance or quality; and
(b) the Court shall, until the contrary is proved, presume that any article of food, which is found in the possession of any person who manufactures or sells similar articles, has been manufactured by that person, or is for sale by him, as the case maybe.
Prohibition of sale or use of poisonous or dangerous chemicals, intoxicated food colour, etc 6A. No person shall directly or indirectly and whether by himself or by any other person acting on his behalf-
fa) use any poisonous or dangerous chemicals or ingredients or additives or substances like calcium carbide, formalin, pesticides (DDT, PCBs oil etc.), or intoxicated food colour or flavouring matter in any food which may cause injury to human body;
(b) sale any food in which poisonous or dangerous chemicals or ingredients or additives or substances like calcium carbide, formalin, pesticides (DDT, PCBs oil etc.) or intoxicated food colour or flavouring matter has been used in any food which may cause injury to human body.]
1 Section 6A was inserted by section 5 of the Bangladesh Pure Food (Amendment) Act, 2005 (Act No. XXVII of2005).
Prohibition of manufacture or sale offood not of proper standard of purity
7. No person shall, directly or indirectly and whether by himself or by any other person acting on his behalf, manufacture or sell, as the case may be, any milk, butter, ghee, (that is to say, clarified milk fat), wheat flour (that is to say, maida, atta or suji) or mustard or any
other rape seed oil, or any other article of food which may be notified by the Government in this behalf, unless the conditions specified in sections 8,9,10, 11,12 and 13 are respectively fulfilled.
Standard of purity of milk or skimmed milk or condensed milk or sterilised milk or desiccated milk
8. (1) In the case of milk other than skimmed, condensed, sterilised or desiccated milk,-
(a) the species of animal from which the milk is derived shall be specified by the seller in such manner as the local authority may direct by general or special order in this behalf;
(b) the article sold shall be the normal, clean and fresh secretion obtained by the complete milking of the udder of a healthy animal of the species specified, not earlier than seven days after the calving and freeing of the colostrums of such animal; and (c) the article sold shall, whether such secretion has been processed or not, be an article from which no ingredient has been extracted and to which no water or other substance (including any preservative) has been added and which contains the normal constituents prescribed under clause (a) or sub-section (1) of section 5.
(2) In the case of skimmed milk, -
(a) the container shall be labelled and marked in such manner as may be prescribed;
(b) the article sold shall contain such proportion of the constituents of milk as may be prescribed; and
(c) the place at which such article is sold shall be specified by the seller in such manner as the local authority may direct by general or special order in this behalf.
(3) In the case of condensed, sterilised dr desiccated milk, -
(a) the container shall be hermetically closed, labelled and marked in such manner as may be prescribed; and
(b) the article manufactured or sold, as the case maybe, shall contain such proportion of the constituents of milk as may be prescribed.
Alarming increase of adulteration of foodstuffs created a strong public opinion for combating the ferocity of the offence. There has been a wide circulation of views for controlling different kinds of adulteration of foodstuffs. Mobile courts are now vigilant around the capital and the districts to discover different kinds of food houses, hotels and restaurants which are found to be selling noxious foodstuffs. Electronic media has been giving a wide coverage of various forms of adulteration of foodstuffs consumed by the people at large. Conscious stakeholders have also come forward to express their thoughtful research on the effects of different kinds of adulterated food on human body. Some stakeholders also maintained contact with the Law Commission for making necessary reforms on the laws in force relating to adulteration. Concerned quarters also invited the attention of the Commission for bringing reforms in the Ordinance. Consequently, the Law Commission included different initiatives for bringing necessary reforms.
Reference: The Pure Food Ordinance. 1959.