Test all brands again in uniform method
The government should form a panel of senior chemists to decide on a uniform, internationally recognised method for testing powdered milk again to remove existing confusions over the recent differing test results, said scientists and consumer rights activists.
Several samples of each brand have to be collected from various places and those have to be homogenised before testing to get an average result, they said, opposing letting laboratories conduct tests in their own ways, which they said has caused the confusion.
The recommendations come as the health ministry holds a meeting with chemists today to determine strategies to implement the High Court order for further testing of eight brands of powdered milk in the laboratories of Dhaka University chemistry department, Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) and Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC).
In earlier tests, DU chemistry department found high level of melamine in all the eight brands--Dano, Diploma, Red Cow, Anlene, Nido fortified instant, Yashili-1, Yashili-2 and Sweet Baby-2.
BAEC found the toxic element in seven brands while BSTI found it in just one. Another test at an ISO-recognised laboratory in Bangkok, however, found melamine in three Chinese brands--Yashili-1, Yashili-2 and Sweet Baby-2. The confusion among consumers and traders has since deepened further.
The HC in its ruling on November 10 lifted for 21 days the ban on sale and display of Dano, Diploma, Red Cow, Anlene and Nido. It also directed the government to conduct tests of other brands available locally soon.
The consumer rights activists and scientists have said the government should be very careful in dealing with the melamine issue.
Talking to The Daily Star, BRAC University Vice-Chancellor Prof Jamilur Reza Chowdhury yesterday suggested that the panel of senior chemists review the test methods earlier followed in the three laboratories. It should check their equipment and suggest a method most suitable to detect melamine in milk.
"If a procedure of test and collection of samples is agreed by the panel, the test result should be similar," he said.
A professor of DU chemistry department also termed sample collection a very important factor. He said the ideal procedure of preparing samples is mixing products of as many batches of a brand as possible to homogenise for testing.
According to a BSTI official, only one batch of each brand was tested earlier.
“I do not know how the BSTI collected samples for earlier tests...You have to mix milk of at least 10 batches collected from various parts of the country. Then you would get an average result," said the DU teacher, preferring anonymity. "If you test milk of only one batch, the result may not represent all batches [of the brand] because powdered milk is repacked locally."
Representatives from businesses and the three laboratories and government officials should be involved in the sample collection process so that no one has any doubt, he added.
A chemist of BSTI told The Daily Star that previously scientists were not free to share information on their test methods. "Scientists of the three institutions should now come to an agreement on test methods," he said.
Endorsing the recommendation for forming an experts committee and following a single test method, Consumers Association of Bangladesh Programme Officer Emdad Hossain said, "We should not destroy the reputation of our institutions by frequently sending samples abroad for tests.”
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