Are you going to eat that?

As tax-paying citizens of Bangladesh, we refuse to be fed toxic food in silence

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“We are what we eat” is what we have been told by our parents as they tried to get us into the habit of eating healthy and nutritious food when we were children. Then why does my hand shake today as I peel that mango for my children? Why does my voice quiver as I tell my children to drink their milk? And why do I hesitate to teach them that eating small fish is the best way to have good eyesight? The answer is as unfortunate as it is deadly. We are living in times when the basic food on our table is slowly poisoning us.

We have read the newspaper articles and watched the TV reports about how adulterated food has penetrated our markets. Children have died and fallen sick from eating poisonous mangoes, watermelons, lychees, and blackberries. Countless people have suffered from the ingestion of harmful chemicals in fruits, vegetables, and other food items. The incidence of cancer, kidney disease, and heart disease in our country is on a sharp rise, and eating healthy does not guarantee us a healthy life anymore.

Enough lives have been lost, and enough money has been made at their expense. It is time for us consumers to say: “STOP Poisoning Us!” We will not just sit around dinner tables complaining amongst friends and family about how unsafe our food is. We will not just look for small and sparse organic sources of food. We have a basic right to safe food as citizens of Bangladesh, and we choose to claim that right now. As tax-paying citizens of Bangladesh, we refuse to be fed toxic food in silence.

Just last summer, a test showed that 94% of the mangoes and 100% of the lychees collected from the markets were tainted with formalin to make them last longer. Regular formalin ingestion can cause kidney disease, cancer, and even death. Mangoes are routinely ripened before their time using calcium carbide, another deadly chemical. Toxic pesticides such as DDT are commonly used in dried fish to preserve them. Chromium enters our food chain when tannery waste is used in poultry feed just to keep costs down. There is chalk powder mixed with flour, brick powder mixed with chili powder, dye injected into watermelons and other fruits … where does the profit-mongering end?

The“STOP Poisoning Us” community initiative resulted from extreme frustration over the rampant practice of food adulteration in our country. Newspaper reports stating that 40% of the food in our markets is adulterated, starting from fruits and vegetables, to fish, poultry, milk, and spices, have showed us how bleak the situation really is, essentially leaving us with nothing safe to feed our children. And so it gave rise to an initiative to raise awareness among consumers and traders and demand some steps from our government to ensure food safety.

Who we are is a group of concerned citizens and parents. What we want is the government to ensure basic food safety for our loved ones. Harmful chemicals like formaldehyde, calcium carbide, DDT, chromium, among others, have no place in the food chain.

Our cause is to ensure a better future for our children by voicing our demands for food safety. Instead of just talking about it at home, we would like to move the discussion into the public sphere and ask for a solution from the government, because this affects all of us – lawmakers and common citizens, young and old, rich and poor, alike.

As concerned citizens, we are in the process of circulating a petition for all citizens to sign to urge the government to include some of our suggestions into its food-safety laws, rules, regulations, and guidelines. Mainly, we want to see stricter implementation of food safety laws and heavy punishment meted out to all those who violate these laws and endanger our health. We ask for awareness campaigns by the government that will show traders, farmers, and consumers the implications of food adulteration, and we want education and training for farmers on safe pesticide use and cost-effective ways of farming. We also urge the government to ensure transparency of tests and reports of the produce being sold in major markets. Basically, we want food safety assured on all levels – farming, processing, and the market.

In order to show unity for the cause, we have organised a peaceful human chain in front of the National Press Club today at 3pm. Our goal is to voice the concerns and fears of consumers, and ask for more attention on the issue. We realise new laws and rules are in the works, but till the day comes when a mother can again safely feed her child seasonal fruits or their favourite fish, it is our duty as citizens to resist the unethical business practices that have become all too common in our country.

If you know anyone who has suffered from inexplicable cancer or kidney disease in spite of leading a healthy life, died suddenly due to food-poisoning, or if you simply feel it is not fair to have to think ten times before picking up that apple for your children, it is time for you to act … for your loved ones, for your country, and for our future.

Source: Dhaka Tribune

1 COMMENT

  1. The PM is too busy strategizing her PM position for life like her father conferred as President for life by his cronies; she does not have the time, zeal and money to waste, to keep the citizens safe from thugs and contaminated foods. Life is too unsecure in bangladesh.

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