DCC launches drive against adulteration

After the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution, the Dhaka City Corporation on Thursday launched anti-adulteration drive in the city’s vegetable and fruit markets to stop the marketing of adulterated fruits or vegetables that were treated with toxic chemicals.
The Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution was continuing from August 10 a countrywide anti-adulteration drive to ensure adulteration-free food items in Ramadan.
On the first day, a DCC mobile court, led by its executive magistrate Khalil Ahmed, launched the drive in the city’s Jatrabari Three-Star Kitchen Market where the court fined a banana trader and a restaurant owner a total of Tk 12,000 for using harmful chemicals for ripening bananas and for serving food in unhygienic conditions.
DCC’s health inspector was also present during the drive.
The mobile court, assisted by one platoon of police, recovered the harmful chemicals used to ripen banana and other fruits.
The team, however, did not seize the adulterated bananas.
The corporation will conduct the drive regularly in the month of Ramadan.
‘Acting on tip-off, we conducted the drive in the Three Star Kitchen market in Jatrabari,’ DCC executive magistrate Khalil Ahmed told New Age.
‘Under section 6(1) of the Bangladesh Pure Food (Amendment) Act 2005, we have realized Tk 10,000 in fines from banana warehouse Shikhder Banijyalay,’ he said.
‘We also conducted drive to a nearby banana warehouse, but the owner of the warehouse managed to flee as we reached. We recovered the chemical from the spot,’ Khalil Ahmed said.
As a reply to the question why the team did not seize the adulterated bananas, the magistrate said, ‘We did not have sufficient logistics to seize and subsequently destroy them.’
‘Our main objective of the drive is to monitor the unscrupulous traders and at the same time to make the common people
aware of the happenings
in the kitchen market so that they can be careful while purchasing goods,’ he said.
Bikrampur Birani House had been fined Tk 2,000 under the section of 150 (3) of the DCC Ordinance for serving the foods in unhygienic condition, the magistrate said.
The magistrate also warned the owners and ordered them to improve the environment of the kitchens at the restaurants.
The Bangladesh Pure Food (Amendment) Act 2005 prohibits using any poisonous or dangerous chemicals or ingredients or additives or substances like calcium carbide, formalin, pesticides, or intoxicated food colour or flavour in food items that may be harmful injury to human body.
Recently the city dwellers become weary of and worried about indiscriminate use of toxic chemicals to grow, ripen or make fruits and vegetables appear fresher or even to keep them fresh for long time.
This food insecurity added new phase to their suffering as they were already in a struggle to cope with the price spiral.
The DCC health inspector said the chemicals just helped the vendors to change the colour of the banana’s skin to yellow which created an impression that it had been ripened.

Courtesy of NewAge