Stop use of harmful chemicals in iftar items

Leaders of Poribesh Bachao Andolan (Poba) yesterday urged the government to take necessary steps to stop the use of harmful chemicals in iftar items, and put forward a 12-point recommendation to control the use of such chemicals.
Farmers, producers and traders looking to make more profit have been using formalin, fertilisers and other chemicals in foods consumed during iftar that may cause damages to the heart, liver and skin, they said at a press conference at the organisation's head office in the capital's Kalabagan.
Md Abdus Sobhan, executive general secretary of Poba, said they tested vermicelli, oranges, dates and tomatoes sold on the market, and found the food items to have formalin. He said they used Formaldehyde Meter Z-300 to carry out the tests.
“We found 19 samples of vermicelli out of 21 and 10 oranges out of 12 to have formalin in them,” Sobhan claimed at the conference.
Placing the recommendations, he said using mobile courts to stop the use of formalin in foods is not feasible.