Bangladesh has come a long way in food security, but food safety is a complex and unresolved problem. The existing food security system is insufficient to safeguard the people's health entirely or to explore the country's potential as a part of the global food business.
The Directorate General of Health Services reported that approximately 45% of the gastrointestinal infections reported in the urban hospitals are associated with food-related illnesses, indicating a silent public health crisis.
This also shows one of the significant economic aspects of the problem; during FY2022, Bangladesh exported only $1.16 billion dollars worth of its food products, whereas in FY2023, it imported more than $9.6bn. The discrepancy indicates the inability to fulfill international sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards at an acceptable scale. This issue has impeded Bangladesh from exporting to more lucrative markets in the long term.
The vital contribution to the transition to a modern food safety system was adopting the Food Safety Act of 2013 and establishing the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA). BFSA was to be able to regulate the whole chain of food production from production to consumption. Nevertheless, 10 years later, the implementation is low, and there is no proper coordination on an institutional level.
This illustrates that its food standards are not legally binding, even though it is under the Ministry of Commerce. Only about 100 of the almost 450 food standards in the BSTI are mandatory certified. Besides, Bangladesh remains one of the non-participants in the Codex Alimentarius Commission as an independent regulator, which restricts the international acceptability of its food standards.
This is still a worrying state of affairs on the ground. A 2023 BFSA-funded study of soybean oil sold in Dhaka found that 63% of the samples contained two to four times the amount of trans fat recommended by the WHO. In the same year, 71% of local vegetables contained pesticide residues, with more than half over the safe level.
There is also a question of dairy safety; 40% of raw milk samples last year tested positive for either detergents, antibiotics, or formalin. According to the results of surveys conducted by the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) in 2021, 65% of tested food items indicated impurity or harmful chemicals.
These statistics indicate a high malpractice in food production and inadequate supervision. The risks are even worse in the informal sector, where most food vendors operate without a license or regular inspection.
Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) does not have enough resources, even though some progress has been made. In 2024, only about 150 inspectors were on hand to police the entire country, which is less than one per million citizens. Most of the district offices do not have basic infrastructure or even access to the laboratories despite the presence of officials in all 64 districts.
Bureaucratic delays and the lack of power to make certifications leave the Chittagong Food Testing Laboratory, erected in 2016 at a cost of about $3m, sanctioned by the Asian Development Bank, unused, most of the time. In 2024, a national reference laboratory was established; however, it has a small mini-lab in the headquarters of BFSA with a limited ability to test simple contaminants. There is some support in mobile labs of the eight divisions, but not to the extent and level of complexity of the country's food system.
Illegal or unmanaged pesticides and growth enhancers are still used at the farm level. As per the Department of Agricultural Extension, more than 100 pesticides not assessed across the Codex MRL (maximum residue limits) are being used today. Improper use of antibiotics, including some categorized as critical to human health, has been repeatedly noticed in fisheries and poultry.
This not only increases the odds of food safety issues, but there is also genuine worry about antimicrobial resistance (AMR) abridgement, a menace to well-being currently costing the worldwide economy an estimated $1.3 trillion annually.
These facts and figures show that Bangladesh has yet to implement its policy. We have a well-intentioned legal system and, more recently, regulatory efforts, but we do not have the infrastructure, workforce, or coordination to bring food safety to reality.
Economic costs are piling on: As per the estimates provided by the World Bank, the countries that invest in food safety reforms achieve an increase in exports of agricultural goods of as much as 20 % over 5 years. Bangladesh has a risk of losing further in competition with its competitors, such as India, Vietnam, and Thailand, which have already integrated their food safety programs with the global ones and have thus been rewarded.
There has to be a change of attitude on our part. Food safety can no longer be a fringe administrative problem. It is a national priority that cuts across public health, trade, agriculture, and consumer rights. If Bangladesh ever wishes to be a major actor in the international food market and ensure that its 170 million inhabitants will not perish due to unsafe products, it will have to introduce a food safety system, which will be legal, practical, data-driven, and responsible. Without this system, our export hopes will be crippled and our people will be endangered with exponentially greater health risks.
Apurba Mogumder is a Legal Researcher in Food Law & Safety in Bangladesh.
