Importance of safe food production in Bangladesh

Any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body is food. The right to food is a human right recognizing the right to an adequate standard of living including adequate food," as well as the 'fundamental right to be free from hunger'. 

We eat food to live. Besides, we take fruits to our relative's house who is sick. We buy large fish from our favorite superstore to entertain our guest. We celebrate the good result of our kid with sweets. All these activities are actually very common in our society and they bring smile to our loved ones and also give us immense pleasure. However, the irony is that these can also be the source of sickness for our dear one. So, we are concerned about safe food. Unsafe food can be a significant reason of many acute and chronic diseases. 

In Bangladesh, most of the foods which are manufactured or processed are unsafe for consumption and also adulterated to varying degrees. This problem persists at every level of the food chain from preparation to consumption. Food manufacturers processors, restaurants, fast food outlets and so forth are all involved in one way or another in this corrupt practice of adulteration by using various harmful chemicals and toxic artificial colours. On the other hand, perishable foods are turned to poisonous foods as these are stored, sold and served to consumers in an unhygienic atmosphere. The range of chemicals and colouring agents that are being used in food is beyond imagination. Calcium carbide is applied on fruits to ripen, formalin on fish, fruits, milk and vegetables as preservatives, brick dust and poisonous yellow colorants in spices, urea to whiten rice and puffed rice, sawdust in loose tea, soap in ghee and artificial sweetener, coal tar and textile dyes in sweetmeats, Various colouring agents are used in sauces, juices, lentils and oils. Sulphuric acid is used in milk for condensation. Many restaurants use burnt engine oil for deep fry. Even the cooking oil becomes poisonous due to repetitive use of same oil in restaurants. We feel utterly helpless when we come to know that between 70%-90% of the food products available in markets are contaminated by underlying one way or another.