Food Minister Afroza Khanam has said the work of the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) will be strengthened to ensure safe food for the country's people. Safe food is not the government's responsibility alone, she said; everyone concerned must work together, and public awareness campaigns must be run on a much larger scale.

She was speaking as chief guest at a meeting with BFSA officers and staff on Tuesday, 15 September. Among the bodies under the Ministry of Food, the authority is one of the most important, the minister said, because the health of the next generation depends largely on what it eats.

Food safety is a matter of great concern, Afroza Khanam said: the findings from quality tests on various foods call for more vigilance. Parents in particular need to be made aware of children's eating habits, people need accurate information about packaged foods and drinks, and regular monitoring must increase to ensure quality and safety.

The eight mobile laboratories currently stationed at divisional level are not sufficient, the minister said; mobile labs are needed in all 64 districts, in phases, so that preliminary tests can be done on the spot. She also pressed the case for a laboratory building of BFSA's own — running laboratories currently costs a significant sum, and its own infrastructure would cut long-term costs and allow a modern, well-equipped facility — and asked for the site selection, project design and financing to be moved forward quickly. The long time taken to test food samples must also be taken seriously, she said.

The demands raised by staff are reasonable, the minister said, and will be taken up in phases with the ministries and departments concerned. Food Secretary Abu Taher Md Masud Rana, the special guest, said the authority's existing problems will be resolved step by step, many of them in consultation with the Ministry of Finance and other offices — but that is no reason to wait, and the authority must make full use of its capacity to keep people's food safe.

BFSA chairman Md Shafiqul Islam, who chaired the meeting, set out the authority's current work, its constraints and possible ways out. Member Professor Dr Mohammad Shoeb presented the authority's activities, the Safe Food Act 2013 and the challenges it faces; the authority's secretary Srabosti Roy gave the welcome address and research officer Md Tayef Ali also spoke.

With complaints of adulteration, dyes and chemicals in food a regular occurrence, on-the-spot testing capacity at district level would add accountability along the whole chain from the farm to the consumer.

Source: banglanews24