NILPHAMARI: Even as the government is trying to ensure safe food for all, a section of indecent bakery owners in Nilphamari are engaged in manufacturing unhygienic food items, posing a threat to the health of consumers, especially children.
Sources said most of these bakery owners do not have legal authorisation from Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institute (BSTI) to run their units. On the other hand, the authorities concerned have taken virtually no steps to curb these illegal and harmful activities, the sources added.
Owners of many bakery and factories are producing these types of junk food items and marketing freely without approval of Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) for a long day.
Recently visited some of the bakeries at Saidpur, Domar, Dimla, Joldhaka, Kishoriganj and sadar upazila, the correspondent has found, workers of maximum bakeries are producing food products by mixing raw materials without hand gloves in a unhygienic environments. Many of them are could not show the BSTI approval and workers health tests report. Children are working at these bakery and factories as labour.
On the other hand, workers and wholesalers were moving freely in a food producing room with used sandals, shoes and not to maintaining the health rules, where the labours were heaping newly produced food items at the floor for packaging. Even, workers of these bakeries were working there without face mask in the global pandemic corona period.
Talking to daily sun, Director of Bangladesh Chemist and Druggist Association Hakim Mostafizur Rahman Sabuj said “Many bakery and factories are producing children food items like artificial lichy, mango juice, lacchi along with others by using chemicals without approval from Bangladesh Standers and Testing Institution (BSTI). As a result, people, including children has affecting by food poisoning with different types of disease day by day”.
“Though the district administration has raided to fined driven by mobile court continued, but the unscrupulous traders are not close down from producing and marketing freely”, he mentioned.
“Many students of primary level are throwing their health at risk, by taking this dateless unhealthy junk foods buy from peddlers in the tiffin period. Local administration was raided to fined driven by mobile court from Manna Bakery at Polashbari village under sadar upazila of the district for produced food products in unhygienic environments recently”, he added.
While contacted Sanitary Inspector of Nilphamari Sadar upazila Md Dulal Hossain told the correspondent, “Around hundred of bakeries are Nilphamari district. We have fined from many bakeries at several places in Nilphamari sadar upazila driven by mobile court on last week for the allegation of produced food items in unhygienic environments”.
However, the conscious people in the district are highly demanding to close down by taken legal steps against the bakery, who have no approval from BSTI by proper monitoring.
