Adulteration of foods has become a national
issue. The problem is not only ignoring the human rights for safer food but
also endangering public health seriously with numerous acute and chronic
diseases. Adulteration of food with toxic chemicals harmful to health has
reached an epidemic proportion in Bangladesh. The newspapers have dubbed it as
the ‘silent killer’. From raw vegetable and fruits to milk and milk products to
fish, meat and processed food–every food item is contaminated. Carbide,
formalin, heavy metal, chemical, textile colours, artificial sweeteners, DDT,
urea etc. are used rampantly for this purpose. Contamination of foods with
toxic chemicals pose a serious threat to public health, especially in a country
like Bangladesh where due to poor health literacy, level of awareness is very
low. Immediate effect of ingestion of such foods may be severe forms of
diarrhoea (food poisoning), threatening life. In the long run, these chemicals
in food adversely affect vital organs such as the liver and kidney resulting in
organ failure and/or cancer and thus, untimely loss of life. There is no
database in the country for these, but the recent surge in liver and kidney
failure patients in the hospitals is indicative of the deteriorating situation.
In a recent study, it has been found that though people are aware about the
health hazards, they are nevertheless buying and consuming these adulterated
foods. However, the problem lies in its sustained and appropriate
implementation by credible authority. Occasionally, the regulatory authorities
will be suddenly in an active mode, and conduct mobile courts to penalize
sellers for selling contaminated foods. If we cannot remove food adulteration,
Bangladesh will get more impaired people near future.
