Health risks mount as adulterated food floods markets

Dalda kept at a bakery for preparing various food items was found to contain a dead rat floating inside. The same Dalda was being used to produce a range of savoury snacks. Officials from the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection and the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority uncovered the scene during a raid at ‘Mousumi Food’ factory in Bongojpara on the outskirts of Chuadanga town. The factory was fined Tk100,000 last Sunday.

At ‘Anannya Food’ in the town’s Railbazar area, a large quantity of expired food products being supplied to the market was seized. The business was fined Tk50,000.

Markets are reportedly flooded with adulterated goods. Industrial dyes are being used in colourful drinks and foods sold for iftar under the guise of food-grade colouring, while fritters are fried in repeatedly used burnt oil. Such practices heighten health risks, contributing to kidney and liver disease, cancer, heart conditions, diabetes and skin disorders.

The Chairman of the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority, Zakaria, said regular monitoring, mobile courts and laboratory testing are conducted to detect harmful chemicals. Recently, unauthorised substances were found in kewra and rose water, and traders were instructed to withdraw the products.

However, challenges remain, including limited manpower and the absence of dedicated laboratories, though new labs are planned in Dhaka, Chattogram and Khulna, he said.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 600 million people worldwide fall ill each year due to adulterated and contaminated food, resulting in 442,000 deaths. Of those affected by unsafe food, 125,000 deaths occur among children under the age of five, who account for 43 per cent of the global burden.

A research report by the Poribesh Bachao Andolon (Poba) states that in Bangladesh alone, adulterated food causes approximately 300,000 cancer cases, 200,000 kidney diseases and 150,000 diabetes cases annually. It also claims that 1.5 million pregnant women give birth to children with disabilities. The number of patients suffering from hepatitis, kidney, liver and lung infections linked to unsafe food is rising steadily. In 2015, eight people died in Dinajpur after consuming pesticide-laced litchis, while in 2012, 14 children lost their lives in similar incidents.

Professor Dr Md Kamrul Islam, an Independence Award-winning physician at the Centre for Kidney Diseases and Urology (CKDU) Hospital, said that commercially purchased food often contains harmful dyes, preservatives, formalin and excessive oil, posing serious health risks. He urged consumers to avoid such food and develop the habit of eating hygienically prepared homemade meals, while calling on traders to refrain from food adulteration.

Under the Special Powers Act 1974, food adulteration and the sale of adulterated food carry a maximum penalty of death or 14 years’ imprisonment. In 2018, the National Institute of Public Health tested 5,396 samples of 43 food items nationwide and found adulteration in all of them. The current market situation remains largely unchanged.

Dr Ayesha Akter, Deputy Director of the 250-bed TB Hospital in Shyamoli, warned that consuming adulterated food leads to stomach disorders, ulcers, liver damage and increased risks of heart disease, kidney problems and even cancer. She noted that pregnant women and unborn children are particularly vulnerable, and stressed that ensuring safe food is essential to building a healthy society.