United News of Bangladesh

Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) has fined seven establishments a total of Tk 10 lakh and filed seven cases under the Safe Food Act, 2013, during a week-long enforcement drive across the country aimed at safeguarding public health and ensuring food safety. Between August 9 and August 15, the authority conducted mobile court operations, market and food establishment monitoring, and public awareness campaigns through television and radio as part of its ongoing nationwide initiative, BFSA said in a statement on Sunday. BFSA destroys 40kg jelly-laced shrimp at Mirpur market drive As part of the enforcement of the Safe Food Act, mobile courts were condicted  in Dhaka and various districts and metropolitan areas against establishments found violating food safety regulations, with legal action taken as necessary. During the week, seven raids were conducted in Dhaka Metropolitan area, resulting in fines of Tk 4 lakh against three establishments and three cases filed against them. Beyond Dhaka, mobile court drives were also carried out in Brahmanbaria, Moulvibazar, Dhaka and Manikganj districts, covering four establishments. These operations led to fines of Tk 6 lakh and four cases filed. Alongside the mobile courts, monitoring of food establishments also continued, with regular inspections carried out at markets, hotels and restaurants, bakeries, sweet shops, and food production and processing units to strengthen oversight of food safety compliance. During the period, monitoring was conducted at 130 food establishments across the country. To raise public awareness, a 14-minute message on trans fat was broadcast on Bangladesh Television, while three separate food safety messages were aired on Bangladesh Betar for a combined 35 minutes during the week. The authority also disseminated food safety messages widely through images, reels and videos on social media, covering safe food consumption, hygienic food production and marketing, and consumer rights. Research activities aimed at strengthening the food safety system, risk assessment and policy formulation are also ongoing, according to the statement. Commenting on the ongoing activities, BFSA Chairman Md Shafiqul Islam said ensuring safe food remains one of the government's top priorities. "To achieve this goal, the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority is working in an integrated manner through law enforcement, regular monitoring, mobile court operations, research, mass awareness campaigns and stakeholder engagement," he said, adding that collective efforts by the government, businesses, producers, consumers and all relevant stakeholders are crucial to ensuring food safety. He said such activities by the authority will continue more broadly and effectively in the public interest in the future.