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Lead in Turmeric Powder

Pran's licence suspended

Sohel Parvez
Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) has temporarily suspended Pran's turmeric powder processing and marketing licence because of a high level of hazardous lead in the spice.
"It is a matter of public health. So we have suspended the licence of the company. It will not be able to sell turmeric powder without our clearance," said BSTI Director General Iqramul Haque.
BSTI will allow the company' to market turmeric powder again after it becomes certain that the spice is free from lead, he added.
The standardisation agency issued the suspension order at the end of last week after the food processor had given it an explanation of the presence of lead in turmeric powder.
Pran's reply was not satisfactory; BSTI officials said. The company has not made it clear as to how much turmeric powder it marketed locally' till October and how much of the spice it recalled from the market.
BSTI, early this month, sought the explanation after it had detected 40 parts per million (ppm) to 58 ppm of lead
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in Pran's turmeric powder, which far exceeds the permissible limit of 2.5 ppm set by it.
On October 22, BSTI initiated a move to test Pran's turmeric powder amid consumer concerns after the US Food and Drug Administration had found excessive amounts of lead in the spice exported to the USA.
BSTI had collected samples of spice powders, including turmeric, of seven local brands for testing those for heavy metals, mainly lead.
It found that only Pran's turmeric powder contained high levels of lead, BSTI Director (Certification Mark) Kamal Prashad Das told The Daily Star.
Pran's Marketing Director Kamruzzaman Kamal confirmed BSTI's suspension order.
"We have already given a reply to BSTI and sent samples of turmeric powder collected from different areas," hesaid.
Kamruzzaman claimed that Pran had withdrawn all its turmeric powder from the market.
The BSTI action came at a time when a joint research by Dhaka Community Hospital, Harvard School of Public Health, and Boston Children's Hospital, USA detected up to 483 ppm of lead in turmeric powder available in the markets of Sirajdikhan, Munshiganj.
As many as 18 samples of turmeric powder had been collected from households in the area and tested at a laboratory of Harvard School of Public Health of Harvard University in the USA. Of the samples, 12 contained excessive levels of lead.
Prashad said BSTI, as part of its surveillance activities, had also collected
samples of turmeric powder from Munshiganj district and detected high levels of lead in the spice marketed by a regional entity.
"We will take action against the firm," he said.
Asked how contaminated turmeric powder was still available in the market, BSTI DG Iqramul said the agency was conducting surveillance operations regularly, despite lack of manpower.
Surveillance teams of BSTI have conducted more than 200 drives in the last three months, he said.
CONSUMER RIGHTS PROTECTION DIRECTORATE
Apart from BSTI, the Directorate of National Consumers Rights Protection (DNCRP) also sent samples of turmeric powder to labs for testing in the third week of October.
Nearly a month has been passed since then but it is yet to get the tests done and submit a report to the commerce ministry.
Contacted, DNCRP Director General Abul Hossain Mian could not give reasons behind the delay.
Asked whether the delay was due to negligence, he said, "We do not want to avoid responsibility."
"It [presence of lead] has already been proved. And the company has withdrawn its products from the market. What can we do now?" he told The Daily Star when asked about the action the directorate had taken regarding the matter.
He said DNCRP did not have the legal authority to take action.
Asked about the presence of lead in turmeric powder of Munshiganj, Abul said he was not aware of the issue.