Rice imported from India by the government, passed as fit for consumption in an initial test, has been found in later tests to contain harmful aflatoxin. The toxin was found in 135 tonnes held at the Halishahar central storage depot (CSD) in Chattogram, CSD manager Iqbal Mahmud confirmed on Friday, Banglavision reported. Samples have been sent to a laboratory for further testing.
According to the food department, the rice arrived on the MV HT Pioneer, which reached the outer anchorage of Chattogram port on 21 July. Samples were taken the next day in the presence of a five-member Directorate General of Food team, and after a report that the rice was fit to eat it was unloaded on 24 and 25 July. Part of it went to the Tejgaon CSD in Dhaka, the Halishahar and Dewanhat CSDs in Chattogram and the Joydebpur local food warehouse in Gazipur.
Once it reached the warehouses, officials objected to its poor quality and transport contractors stopped moving it; the food secretary and the director general of food were informed in writing. On 17 August a two-member team led by Dr Sharifa Sultana Dipti, chief scientific officer of the grain quality and nutrition division at the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, took samples from stacks at the Halishahar and Dewanhat CSDs, and the tests found aflatoxin in 135 tonnes at Halishahar.
On the orders of Director General of Food Jasim Uddin Khan, distribution of 9,500 tonnes had been suspended pending quality tests; apart from the 135 tonnes, the rice has been distributed in line with the rules, said Iqbal Mahmud and Dewanhat CSD manager Hamim Rahman. Rezwan Sakib, controller of movement and storage in the Chattogram food division, said a committee has been formed for further tests.
Experts quoted in the report say aflatoxin is a poison produced by fungi of the Aspergillus group, which can grow when rice, grain or nuts are stored for long periods in damp, favourable conditions. Eating food containing aflatoxin over a long time can damage the liver and raises the risk of liver cancer, making its presence in food a serious public health concern.
Source: Banglavision
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