Iftar items at restaurants and roadside makeshift shops in the Barisal city are selling at exorbitant prices this Ramadan compared to previous year while use of
chemicals and toxic colour in foods has become rampant.
Sale of iftar items at different restaurants and roadside shops in the city was also found dull on starting days of Ramadan this year as their prices have sharply increased.
The Barisal committee of the Consumer Association of Bangladesh demanded strong vigilance against abnormal price, adulteration and use of chemicals and colours, which are harmful for health.
Not only the cooked items, but also fruits such as dates, mangoes, pineapples, papayas and bananas have been selling at least 40-60 per cent higher prices than the previous year.
Most of the fruits are also artificially ripened with carcinogenic (cancer inducing) chemical called ethylene oxide, calcium carbide and other toxic dyes, Ranjit Dutta, the district CAB organiser said.
Shohidul Alam, deputy commissioner of Barisal, said the administration formed mobile court teams for market price monitoring and to control adulteration of food items in Ramadan.
During a visit to different shops in the city, 100 grams of bhuna chhola boot and piazi were found selling for Tk 30-35 and Tk 10 against Tk 25 – 30 and Tk 8 last year.
The price of brinjal (begun) jumped to Tk 130-140 from Tk 35-40 per kg and potato to Tk 32 from Tk 24, tomato to Tk 150 from Tk 80, green chili to Tk 220 from Tk 80 within forty eight hours of starting Ramadan.
Nazim Mia, a seller of a roadside iftar shop at Sadar Road in the city, said iftar items became dearer as the prices of iftar-making items including vegetables, sugar, cooking oil and pulses went up sharply.
High production cost pushed up the prices of iftar items and led to subsequent fall in sale, he said.
The number of makeshift shops and restaurants selling iftar items is also much lower this year compared to that of the last year, said Abdur Razzak, market inspector of Barisal City Corporation.
-With New Age input
