More than 4.5 million people in the country are at a health risk for consuming adulterated and contaminated food every day.
This shocking statistics came into light during a human chain arranged by Safe Food and Consumer Production Movement (SFCPM), Bangladesh in front of National Press Club on Wednesday.
More than 660 million people get sick due to consuming adulterated food while 400,000 people die every day worldwide, speakers at the human chain said.
Speaking at the human chain, Supreme Court lawyer Barrister Jakir Ahmed said: “Everyone involved with the food industry is now mixed up in the process of adulterating food to gain more profit.”
Blaming lack of strict implementation of the existing laws, Barrister Jakir urged the authority to implement Food Safety Act 2013 and Formalin Control Act 2015 to ensure fresh foods for everyone.
National Awami Party (NAP) Secretary General M. Golam Mustafa Bhuyan said: “Bangladesh tops the list among South Asian countries for food adulteration. In South Asia, almost 150 million people are suffering from various diseases related to food adulteration.”
The poisonous residues in food items that are mixed with chemicals are not only damaging vital human organs like liver, kidney, and heart along with affecting children's mental and physical wellbeing but also causing fatal diseases like cancer, and hepatitis B.
According to the Health Directorate of Bangladesh, sixty percent of the population are kidney patients.
By consuming adulterated foods people are suffering from such types of diseases, speakers at the human chain said.
The human chain program was presided over by the organization Chief Executive Kamaruzzaman Bablu, while Jatiya Krishak- Sramik Mukti Andolan Joint Secretary Md Manzur Hossain Esa, SFCPM Secretary Asaduzzaman Azam, Senior Vice-President Shahidul Islam, Treasurer Md Mosharef Hossain Sikdar, Organization Secretary Faruk Alam, Program Coordinator Shamsul Arefin, among others were also present in the program.
SFCPM is a voluntary organization whose goal is to create mass awareness against adulteration of food and ameliorate ethics and morality among people.