Our hearts sank when we heard Police Commissioner Benazir Ahmed announcing that check posts would be put up in order to prevent formalin from entering Dhaka city. No one believed the police would actually do something to save food items from being infested with this chemical. Everybody thought this announcement was another ploy to extort some money, as the month of Ramadan was near. Many also thought this initiative would put hospitals in trouble, where this chemical is really needed.
The police commissioner also commented that adding this kind of poison in food items was tantamount to murdering someone. A recent report in Dhaka Tribune said: “Over 46% of the food items that are available in the market are adulterated, and all the samples of some of the most popular items were found to be contaminated with harmful chemicals.”
The Public Health Laboratory in the Institute of Public Health showed that 100% of the samples of food products like chocolate, cake, chhana, yogurt, pickles, dried fish, fruit syrup, sesame oil, and vegetable oil were adulterated. Poribesh Bachao Movement, in a test, found formalin in 100% of blackberries, 95% of lychees, and 66% of mangoes in Dhaka markets.
From our fruits to milk, and our paddy to betel leaves, everything is contaminated with either formalin or some other type of deadly chemical. Our commerce minister himself was quoted as saying that he esd scared to buy fruits, and that was why he didn’t consume any fruit.
Investigations say chemicals are being added at the root when the fruits are still on the tree. First, some plant growth regulator hormones are added for increasing fertility of the plants. Then, the embryonic fruits are stockpiled in a closed warehouse. After that, chemicals are added in two phases. Two types of chemicals, sodium carbide and formalin, are added mostly to mangoes, jackfruits, lychees, bananas, etc.
Potassium permanganate is injected into watermelons and calcium carbide is added to bananas. Physicians say these chemicals can lead to kidney diseases, liver cirrhosis, cancer, and many other incurable health problems.
Many in the government, as well as at social levels, have tried to voice this concern for a few years now. Many have suggested taking action against the offenders who poison our food. But nothing seemed to work to prevent the injection of formalin or carbide or any such substance into our food. The government has again started a drive against the offenders.
However, we suspect this ongoing drive would also fail, as the existing law seems too weak to stop this practice. In many countries of the world, offenders who poison food get the death penalty or life imprisonment. Wrongdoers here get away too easily with a mere fine or short-term imprisonment.
We don’t yet have any effective measures against these poisonmongers. However, a law was enacted last year – Safe Food Act 2013 – that has categorised 23 offences for which criminals will face a maximum of five years in jail or a Tk1 lakh fine. Of them, 13 offences are non-bailable. The law says public servants failing to discharge duties stipulated in the law would face departmental disciplinary action. The law has many more clauses, but this law hasn’t yet been implemented anywhere in the country.
Having said that, questions loom: Why are we failing to put a stop to this unhealthy practice? Why are we failing to convince these greedy, dishonest traders and businessmen, as well as the farmers, that they are helping to destroy the entire nation and their children who are also getting those contaminated food items?
When the media reports on this detrimental practice, our mobile courts become active and file cases against or penalise a few small fry, and then the cause gets lost in the unwillingness to follow them up.
A few citizens’ groups have recently started a campaign urging all consumers not to have the food items and fruits that are reportedly contaminated with poisonous chemicals. It’s about time that the citizens finally started voicing concern against the devious practice. The state of affairs, as far as poisoning our food is concerned, has gone so far that it’d require a Herculean effort to clean the minds of thousands of traders who are mixing poison in our food for more money.
All citizens need to continue their activism so that the government becomes really sincere in saving the future of this nation. Otherwise, we’ll have a very sick nation in 20 years.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
Potassium permanganate is injected into watermelons and calcium carbide is added to bananas. Physicians say these chemicals can lead to kidney diseases, liver cirrhosis, cancer, and many other incurable health problems. The police commissioner also commented that adding this kind of poison in food items was tantamount to murdering someone. I am really happy about this overview with food item.