10 substandard products ordered withdrawn from market
The Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) has ordered the withdrawal of 10 products from the market after laboratory tests found they failed to meet Bangladesh Standards.
Show-cause notices have also been issued to the companies concerned, asking why their BSTI licences for the products should not be cancelled.
BSTI advised consumers on Wednesday (August 26) to refrain from buying the products after tests found them to be substandard.
As part of its regular surveillance, BSTI collected products from various companies and tested them at its laboratories. While several products met the required standards, some brands of ghee, butter oil and spices failed to meet the required quality standards.
Tests found that Baghbari ghee contained less milk fat than required. Palm olein and vegetable fat were used in the product, which was marketed as ghee. Several Bombay Sweets spices were also found to be below the required Bangladesh Standards (BDS) on several parameters.
BSTI said Bombay Sweets & Co. Ltd.’s curry powder, duck meat spice, tehari spice, kala bhuna spice, beef spice and fish spice failed because their total ash and salt levels exceeded the prescribed limits.
The substandard products include ghee from Baghbari Premium Ghee Company, Kishoreganj Food Products and Messrs Mamun Food Products, as well as butter oil from Elders Food Products & Packaging Industries. Tests found the ghee products failed to meet standards for refractive index, iodine value, saponification value and Polenske value.
BSTI Director General (Secretary) Kazi Imdadul Haque said maintaining product quality according to national standards is the legal and moral responsibility of every licensed company. He said BSTI would take necessary legal action against companies that fail to fulfil this responsibility.
He advised consumers to check the BSTI mark, licence number, manufacturing and expiry dates, ingredients and other necessary information before purchasing products. He also urged consumers to report complaints about product quality, adulteration, fraud or misuse of the BSTI mark to BSTI at 16119 or dg@bsti.gov.bd.
