The Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) has intensified nationwide enforcement, monitoring and public awareness activities under the Food Safety Act, 2013, collecting Tk 67 lakh in fines from 25 establishments and filing 25 cases in the week from Aug 16 to 22.
The actions were carried out through drives in Dhaka and different districts, as well as summary trials led by judges of the Pure Food Court and metropolitan magistrates.
On August 22, legal action was taken against four establishments in the Chattogram Metropolitan area during a summary trial led by the judge of the Pure Food Court and a metropolitan magistrate, in the presence of food safety officers of Chattogram Metropolitan.
A total of Tk 40 lakh was collected in fines from the four establishments after irregularities were detected, and four cases were filed under the Food Safety Act, 2013.
During the same period, drives were conducted at seven establishments in the Dhaka Metropolitan area. Three establishments were fined a total of Tk 3 lakh and three cases were filed for violations of the law.
Meanwhile, mobile courts were conducted at 15 establishments in Pabna, Bogura, Madaripur, Narsingdi, Brahmanbaria, Dhaka, Faridpur, Gazipur, Chattogram, Nilphamari, Lakshmipur and Manikganj from August 16 to 22.
The drives resulted in Tk 24 lakh in fines and 15 cases being filed.
In Brahmanbaria, a summary trial led by the judge of the Pure Food Court and a senior judicial magistrate, in the presence of a food safety officer, was held on August 17. No fine was imposed, but three regular cases were filed.
Alongside enforcement activities, food establishment monitoring has also been strengthened across the country.
During the period, monitoring was conducted at 220 food establishments, including markets, hotels and restaurants, bakeries, sweet shops, and food production and processing facilities.
The monitoring focused on compliance with food safety regulations in food production, storage, preparation, processing and marketing. Necessary instructions and legal measures were taken against establishments where required.
As part of efforts to formulate and implement healthy food policies, reduce sodium levels in food, introduce front-of-pack labelling, ensure a healthy food environment and strengthen coordinated action against non-communicable diseases, the BFSA also held a consultation meeting with the World Health Organization's (WHO) RECAP mission.
The meeting was held at the BFSA conference room on Aug 18, with BFSA Chairman and Additional Secretary Md Shafiqul Islam in the chair.
The meeting discussed ongoing and future activities of the BFSA and WHO on food policies and regulatory measures aimed at ensuring a healthy food environment and preventing non-communicable diseases.
The authority also stepped up public awareness campaigns during the period.
Bangladesh Television broadcast 14 minutes of TV commercials on trans fats and aired 42 scrolling messages, while Bangladesh Betar broadcast three separate food safety messages for a total of 35 minutes.
The campaigns focused on safe food consumption, hygienic food production and marketing, and the responsibilities of consumers. Awareness messages on food safety were also regularly disseminated through photographs, reels and videos on social media.
BFSA Chairman Md Shafiqul Islam said ensuring food safety is not merely a matter of law enforcement, but is directly linked to protecting public health and building a healthy generation.
“Alongside taking necessary action against violations, we are giving equal importance to encouraging responsible behaviour among food businesses and producers, regular monitoring, research and public awareness activities,” he said.
“Alongside punitive measures, preventive initiatives will be further strengthened in the area of food safety. The activities of the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority will be expanded and made more effective in the future to ensure people's right to safe food,” he added.