Safe food consumption crucial to ensure sound health

Safe food consumption has become crucial to maintain sound health and all quarters who are engaged in producing, manufacturing, processing and marketing of food should discharge their duties with utmost sincerity and honesty to reach safe food to the consumers in general.

Utmost emphasis should be given on ensuring food safety to build sound public health everywhere in the society.

The observation came at a discussion by administrative officials and experts who unequivocally called for concerted efforts of all concerned to ensure food safety.

Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) as part of implementation of capacity building project hosted the divisional level workshop at the conference hall of Primary Teachers Institute here today.

Commissioner of Rajshahi division Khandaker Azim Ahmed addressed the workshop as chief guest, while Commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police Muhammad Abu Sufiyan, BFSA Member ANM Nazim and Deputy Commissioner of Rajshahi Afia Akhter spoke as special guests with BFSA Chairman Muhammad Zakaria in the chair.

During his keynote presentation, BFSA Additional Director Amitabh Mondal talked about thie aspects of consuming safe food.

Commissioner Khandaker Azim Ahmed said the fight against food adulteration has intensified after the established BFSA stressing the need for creating mass awareness among all levels of people to check food waste and
adulteration.

He underscored the need for creating mass awareness to fight against the food waste and adulteration malpractices.

BFSA Chairman Muhammad Zakaria mentioned that adulterated and contaminated foods always pose a serious threat to the public health and called for taking punitive measures against the food adulteration and contamination so that no more dare to commit such types of crimes.

The existing acts and the law enforcers alone would never be able to salvage the situation unless people from all walks of life became adequately aware about the harms of taking adulterated foods and took firm stand against such immoral mindset.

‘We need the people to come forward to stop these harmful practices,’ he added.

He said concerted efforts of all the government and non-government organizations concerned have become indispensable for protecting agriculture from all sorts of pollution and contamination to ensure food safety.

Besides, utmost emphasis should be given on freeing the markets from all sorts of unhygienic and unsafe foods because those are injurious to public health.

All the street food selling shops and hotels should be brought under close monitoring and vigilance to debar them from selling unhygienic and contaminated foods on an urgent basis, he added.