Adulterated spices flood Lalmonirhat markets
Due to a lack of proper monitoring, adulterated spices are flooding local markets in five upazilas in the district.
Taking advantage of the fact that consumers have become habituated to using powdered spices, unscrupulous traders have been adulterating spices and supplying them in the market.
This correspondent visited spice processing mills at Goshala Bazar, Uttar Saptana, Uttara Road and Purna Bazar in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila, and saw mill owners and unscrupulous traders producing adulterated spices. Flour, sawdust, and even toxic chemicals for colouring are mixed with the spice powder.
Locals at Uttar Saptana village said the mill there was mixing spices with oyster powder for earning windfall profit. The oyster powder is also produced at the mill. The mill owner, Alam Hossain, was cautioned in this regard several times, but he didn't care, they said.
There are at least 30 spice processing mills in the district, but none has any document from the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI).
Consumer Nur Hossain Dulal, 50, of Thana para area in Lalmonirhat town, said powdered spices are less costly than non-powdered spices. “I always try to buy fresh spices, but sometimes my wife tells me to purchase spice powder instead,” he said.
“It is true that the powder spices are adulterated, and risky for human health. If BSTI officials conduct drives against producers of adulterated spices and punish them, it will control the illegal activity,” said consumer Ashraf Miah, 45, of Patgram town under Patgram upazila.
Uzzal Miah, a spice mill owner at Patgram town, said he never produced adulterated powdered spices, and is very careful in this regard. He has a municipality trade license but does not have BSTI approval letter, he said.
Alamgir Hossain, the mill owner at Uttar Saptana, said he does not need a BSTI letter for producing powdered spices as he never makes adulterated products. But when he was asked why he produced oyster powder, he was silent.
Contacted, Mantos Kumar, the field officer of BSTI in Rajshahi, said BSTI will conduct drives against people producing adulterated powdered spices very soon.
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