Editorial
Endemic food adulteration
Will new legislation help matters?
FOOD adulteration has effectively taken over every step of the supply chain. Indeed, if we were to go by recent newspaper reports, the problem has now reached alarming proportions. The basic reality is this. With little in way of regulation or enforcement, there is little to stop the determined adulterator to refrain from using non-food grade chemicals to preserve foodstuffs. The existing law places the local government, ministries of health, food, commerce and agriculture and the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI) in the forefront of the fight against adulteration.
Yet year after year, the only thing we have witnessed is prolonged inaction by various bodies of the government and the BSTI to take effective measures against adulteration, which has now reached epidemic proportions. The failure to enforce the existing law, Bangladesh Pure Food (amendment) Act 2005, has given rise to our present quandary. Hence the question begs to be asked precisely how the proposed piece of legislation—Safe Food Act 2013 -- is going to help matters. Yes, there is a lot of talk about tough punishment up to 14 years imprisonment and fines ranging up to Tk.2 million given the severity of crime committed. The problem is not the law, rather the political will to implement what is stated in the law. Tampering with public health is a serious matter. Until policymakers are willing to take off their collective gloves and declare war on adulteration, nothing will change, and that is the ground reality.
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