A variety of summer fruits are available in the market but people are reluctant to buy them as they are concerned about possible adulteration.
Mango, lychee, watermelon, pineapple and jackfruit are among the fruits that started arriving in the market more than a week ago, but the question that is preventing people from purchasing them is: Are we buying poison in place of fruits?
The uncontrolled use of formalin and carbide in fruits has repeatedly made headlines over the past few years but anti-chemical drives are yet to be carried out this year.
Assistant Director of Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution, Riazul Haque, said there would be drives in the capital’s fruit markets shortly.
Rafiqul Islam, a fruit vendor at Badamtoli Bazar in Sadarghat, claims he sells fresh and chemical-free mangoes.
But he keeps mum when asked if the fruits he sells have been tested.
The trader also claims his fruits had been tested when they were collected from theorchards.
Like Rafiqul, many fruit sellers in the capital claim their fruits contain no adulterant.
The use of formalin detection kits drew criticism last year after the effectiveness of the devices was questioned.
This, sources said, is one of the reasons why officials have not yet begun carrying out drives against adulterated fruits this year.
A Bangladesh Council of Science and Industrial Research (BCSIR) report submitted to the High Court last year said the formalin detection kit, Formaldehyde Meter Z 300, used in Bangladesh is unable to perfectly measure the presence of chemicals in fruits and food items.
The High Court then ordered the government to form in a week a committee of experts which will be tasked with selecting a new and proper kit.
Md Zahurul Haque, director of Food Science and Technology Institute at the BCSIR, said no problem was found in the kit when it was tested.
“But the problem is that the kit was not made to measure the level of formalin in fruit or fish, but it is being used in our country for that. Besides, people who use this to test food items do not know its proper use.
“We can also test the presence of formalin in our laboratory which takes two to three days,” he said.
“Many people think that the natural preservative formalin kit gives different result but this is wrong,” he added.
Serajul Islam, general secretary of Dhaka City Fruit Import Export and Merchants Association, said traders incurred losses last year for the use of formalin in fruits. “This year, we are very careful about that.”
