CA voices concern over food contamination, urges united efforts to stop

Bangla Press Desk: Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Sunday expressed grave concern over the growing presence of harmful chemicals in food resulting in public health risks, urging all to work together to confront the crisis.

"We are aware of the various forms of contamination in food. We must determine how to confront this. Our children, parents, and loved ones are all victims. For our own sake, we must work together to overcome this crisis," he said.

The chief adviser made the remarks at a meeting at the state guesthouse Jamuna to take action to address the presence of various harmful chemicals in food, resulting in public health risks and to prevent food adulteration.

Prof Yunus chaired the meeting, said Chief Adviser's Press Wing on Sunday evening.

The meeting discussed in detail foodborne diseases, contamination related risks, and what needs to be done to address this crisis.

On taking immediate actions to prevent the food adulteration, the chief adviser said, "We will discuss the implementation aspects and decide which ones are urgent to start now. We will take urgent initiatives in this regard immediately".

He instructed everyone concerned to send written proposals regarding the implementation of necessary activities to address the food contamination crisis within the next week.

Agriculture and Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (Retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, Food Adviser Ali Imam Majumder, Health and Family Welfare Adviser Nurjahan Begum, Fisheries and Livestock Adviser Farida Akhter, National Security Adviser Dr Khalilur Rahman, Chief Adviser's Special Assistant Sayedur Rahman, Chief Adviser's Principal Secretary M Siraz Uddin Miah, secretaries of the concerned ministries, Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) Director General (DG) SM Ferdous Alam, Directorate of National Consumers' Right Protection (DNCRP) DG Farooq Ahmed, Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) Chairman Zakaria and Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Md Majibur Rahman attended the meeting.

BP/SP