Colourful Bits of Tasty Poison
SMALL candies in colourful packs promise mouth-watering flavours to many a child and adults alike on the streets of Dhaka. Often available for as small a price as Tk 0.5-1, these have taken on the role of small change in day-to-day transactions at the numerous roadside stalls, easily accepted and freely given.
A recent visit to a factory of such 'delectable delights' offers a glimpse into the unhygienic concoction of such candies popularly known as chocolate. Some 'unusual' ingredients going into the candies include wax, wood shavings, and textile dye, openly used in the extremely unhygienic production process. Illegal use of well-known brands in packaging of these candies lulls buyers into a false security about quality. Sporadic factory raids by Bangladesh Standard Testing Institution remain highly inadequate to check the violation of human rights through tainted confectionary.
The potholes of adulteration miring the local food industry seem elusive to regulations. Parents with limited resources remain unaware of dangers of the multicoloured nuggets of poison that make a child so happy.
Photo: Anisur Rahman
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