Food adulteration has increased alarmingly across the country, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Tuesday.
"Almost all the foods we eat are adulterated", he said while addressing an opinion exchange meeting at the Directorate of Health Services in the capital's Mohakhali.
Basic food items, including rice, pulses, spices, fish and vegetables have toxic chemicals and other harmful additives, he said.
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As a result, ailments like cancer and Kidney diseases have doubled across the country.
"In developed countries, no compromises are made to poison food, no matter how powerful a company is. But adulterated food is being served everywhere in our country. So, where do people go? What will we eat? It won't be allowed anymore,” the minister warned.
"Creating awareness among people is a must to stop food adulteration. We’ve taken various steps in this regard,” the minister said.
"If we want to give a healthy life to our next generation, these adulterated businesses must be stopped now", he said.
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"We are going to form some field level teams to prepare a specific report on this. Later, we will sit with the higher authorities and resolve it very soon,” the minister said.
Director General of the Department of Health Prof Dr ABM Khurshid Alam, Director (Administration) Prof Dr Md. Shamiul Islam Sadi and other Directorate of Health officials were present at the meeting.