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If it is claimed that people have forgotten raising eyebrow to express surprise, it would not be wrong. At least that happens in the case of food. Knowing all about its adulteration or toxicity, they are eating such foods at home, at public places and even in parties.
Ali Imam, a customer of a Chatpatti stall at Bailey road expressed his feeling, saying "I am habituated to taking these foods… although some of those create problems like stomach upset."
As he could not resist taking this mouthwatering food, he would not think of its hygienic impact or safety level before taking the chat-mixed food.
Although, the case of Ali Imam, an official of autonomous organisation, is not that much grave, innumerable people have been forced to take daily foods in spite of their poor quality due to lack of invigilation or supervision measures. Due to absence of food control management and inspection, various kinds of adulterated foods have grabbed the market, leaving the people into a state of "no alternative".
Hygiene related diseases in Bangladesh cost US $ 80 million each year for treatment alone, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistic.
On different occasions, media also reported about food issues like mad cow, bird flu, lagoon-produced fishes, toxic vegetables or fruits, high yields from chemical fertiliser as a means to tell further about the poor condition of food safety and control in the country. Very recently, report of selling dead poultry birds in the restaurants simply piled on the agony of the consumers.
Experts say a wide range of food-borne diseases (endemic----hyperendemic---epidemic---pandemic) has spread in Bangladesh and problems like diarrhoea, jaundice, typhoid, cholera etc are taking their toll on the people.
They said that with the increased movement of people and goods around the globe, food security -- access to adequate and sustainable food supplies -- and food safety have become topics of widespread international interest. And this is being done to ensure that reliable and affordable amounts of nutritious food are available to the world's growing population.
In Bangladesh, Food Safety in all stages of the food chain, that is from farm to table, has been given due importance in all the relevant policies of GOB. These policies include Bangladesh Environment Policy, Bangladesh Food and Nutrition Policy 1997 and NPAN 1997, Bangladesh Food Policy 1988, Comprehensive Food Security Policy 2001 and New National Food Policy 2001(draft), National Agriculture policy and Bangladesh Health Policy.
"But flaws in basic food laws could not ensure this", said an official giving example saying, Pure Food Ordinance 1959 & the Pure Food Rules 1967, did not accommodate Codex standards, guidelines and practices including HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point).
Sources said Fish & Fish Products Inspection & Quality Control Ordinance 1983 and Fish & Fish Products (Inspection & Quality Control Rules 1997) have received due importance in HACCP principles and the Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institution (BSTI) also adopted HACCP as Bangladesh standard. Consumer Protection Act is yet to be enforced.
But there is no organisation to oversee the food control activities and no structure to formulate mandatory minimum standard, the official added.
Standard Wing of BSTI formulated about 365 food and agricultural product standards and services and it has the right to adopt International Standards (ISO, IEC, Codex etc) as Bangladesh Standards. Officials said, until now 150 international standards have been adopted as Bangladesh Standards.
They said, food control activities are implemented in an unorganised form, including scanty information on food contamination, food laws and regulations do not embody recent development or recommendations by Codex, SPS & TBT Agreements.
Weak coordination among activities like plant quarantine, food control, standards, enforcement and labs, weak consumer/public awareness programmes also make the situation unprotected, they added.
At present, committees of divisional and sectional level have been responsible for maintaining food standard. But their failure leaves the people particularly the poor group in the worst condition.
According to statistics, 28 million ultra poor in Bangladesh suffer from chronic food insecurity and take 1,800 calories per day against the minimum requirement of 2,200. Though food production has grown considerably, food standard as well as nutrition intake among the poor in particular falls far short of what is required.
At least 43 per cent of people remain under the food-based poverty line, said a recent study of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies.
Bangladesh has made substantial progress in increasing food grain production over the last two decades and the government has taken safety net programmes for the ultra poor. Poverty has increased the chances of consuming poor quality and unsafe food. Some 28 million people are said to be ultra poor.
Nutrition and food utilisation are increasingly recognised as key components of food security in Bangladesh having one of the highest rates of malnutrition in the world. Economic analyses indicated that without improvements in the nutritional status of the population, 22.9 billion US$ in productivity will be lost to the country between 2000 and 2010.
There have been several recommendations to improve the situation. These include formulation of a comprehensive Food Safety Policy, harmonisation of provisions and standards in various laws. To ensure implementation of the recommendations, adoption of science-based standards at the retail level, fostering HACCP-type preventive approaches largely through the Food Code process, etc, are necessary.
"As we have to meet challenges like poverty alleviation, reduction of maternal and child mortality rate through different measures including improving the nutritional level by 2015, food security must be taken into consideration to ensure public health and removal of extra health cost at least for the poor," said an NGO activist.
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