Market Failure: Food Adulteration in Bangladesh

Market Failure * admixture in Food Industry Submitted to Mr. Sheikh Morshed Jahan Associate Professor feast Instructor Bangladesh Studies Submitted by Samia Khan (RQ 16) Adel Mostaque Ahmed (ZR 22) Ahnaf Zabee (ZR 35) Rituraj Baidya (ZR 56) Institute of Business judicature activity University of capital of Bangladesh April 9, 2012 Table of Contents Market failure3 Food degradation in Bangladesh3 Mouthwatering looks4 heroism4 Examples of intellectual nourishment adulteration5 The consequences6 The awareness responseant6 Penalties7 The Solution8 resultant8 Market failureMarket failure is a concept within economic theory describing when the allocation of goods and services by a free grocery store is not efficient. That is, at that place exists other conceivable outcome where a grocery participant may be made better off without reservation whatsoeverone else worse-off. Market failures can be viewed as scenarios where individuals pursuit of unpolluted self-interest lead s to cores that are not efficient that can be alter upon from the societal point-of-view. Food adulteration in Bangladesh Food adulteration is the surgical operation of adding chemical substances with forages, which should not be contained within victuals and beverages.Chemical substances or plainly adulterants may be added to substances to reduce manufacturing costs, or for some deceptive or malicious purpose. When profit in business is more important than morality, beca spend it is possible to add the poisoning contents to the provenders and beverages. A limited publication of people may die without foods but a large cosmos has been suffering from complicated diseases related to food adulteration, which may be no give the sackheless lead to d preyh in future. Adulterated food consuming is the waiting for death, which is a worse punishment than death.Food adulteration has become a study problem in Bangladesh. Vegetables, fish, milk, fruit, and sweetmeats nothing is saf e, and is being sold in the commercialise profusely. However, the adulteration that be actives the consumers directly comes from rest halonts. The restaurants are using toxic chemicals like formol and framework dye stuffs in preserving foods, which play havoc in wellness system. Most of the countrys population, especially women and children would be the worst dupe if the authorities fail to stop food adulteration.The number of people smitten by crab louse and other chronic diseases due to taking of corrupted foods has of late gone up to such an alarming level that some people build tied(p) stopped buying many inhering nutritious foods and vegs other than some basic food grains, for mere survival, that they tire out are not adulterate. Mouthwatering looks There is a special demand for odoriferous good-looking foods among customers and they are forgeting to pay extra just for the look. However, we establish to be cautious be hasten, Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB) confirmed that wholesalers use several mechanisms to throw away foods attractive.In their study, it came out that in near cases the spices are complex with brick dust, cumin is mixed with sawdust, and sugar syrup is added with honey to enhance the sweetness. Dishonest traders use a host of ingredients such as animal fat, palm oil, potato coerce and vegetable oil to produce fake butter oil. In another study, the Food and Nutrition Institution, University of Dhaka6 have appoint alarming level of baleful bacteria like E-coli, Salmonella and Shigella bacteria in closely of the restaurant food and street food in the city. Many street food vendors and restaurants reprocess burnt cooking oil for frying food items.Once the oil is use for cooking, it becomes oxidized and its further use generates peroxide, which is very harmful for the human body. Endurance It is a challenge to stay fresh produces, meats and fish for a nightlong clock in Bangladesh. Most of the traders do n ot have freeze vans or climate control storage facility to ensure the smell of the food. However, many traders came up with unusual ideas to keep their products intact for longer time that pose a semipermanent health risk to the consumers. Restaurant owners use this technique to reduce their raw material purchasing cost.Often formaldehyde is sprayed to fruits and fishes to keep them fresh for longer duration. roughly other examples of food adulteration Views or so the proportion of corrupted food items on the market vary betwixt 70 and 90 percent. More than 76 percent food items on the market were found adulterated in a random arrest by Public Health Laboratory of Dhaka City stack in 2004. There are approximately 150 food items in the country, give tongue to SK Roy, a senior scientist at the International Centre for diarrhoeic Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B).Roy tell that brick dust is applied in chili pulverisation urea is use to whiten rice and puff rice sawdus t in loose tea soap in Ghee and artificial sweetener, coal tar, and textile dyes in sweetmeats. Formalin applied on fish, fruit, meat, and milk causes throat cancer, line of credit cancer, childhood asthma, and skin diseases, he said. Poisonous coloring agents like aura mine, rhodomine B, malachite green, yel piteous G, allura red, and Sudan red applied on food items for coloring, brightness, and freshness terms liver and kidney, and cause stomach cancer, asthma, and bladder cancer, said Roy.Coloring agents chrome, tartzine, and erythrosine are employ in spices, sauces, juices, lentils, and oils causing cancer, allergy, and respiratory problem. Calcium carbide may lead to cancer in kidney, liver, skin, prostate, and lungs. Rye dredge used in barley, bread, and wheat flour contribute to convulsion and miscarriage. Hormone used in cauliflower causes infertility of women. Agino moto or monosodium glutamate used in Chinese restaurant food items cause nervous system disorder and d epression. Urea put in puffed rice and rice causes nervous system damage and respiratory problem.Sulphuric harsh used in milk for condensation causes damage to the cardiac system. practical application of excessive and unauthorized pesticides also cause contamination of food, he said adding that additives used for making food items attractive can be fatal if those are cancerous. However, some permitted preservatives, thickening agents, gelling agents, antioxidants, and stabilizers could be harmless if applied in appropriate quantity, said Roy. Food grains, vegetables, and fish also are bemire by industrial pollution of the soil, air, and water, he said.Burnt engine oil is used to fry Jilapi, while artificial fragrance is applied on flours, said Khalil Ahmed, executive magistrate of Dhaka City Corporation, who operates a rambling lawcourt against adulterated foods in the capital. The consequences The long-term consequences of consuming chemical treated food items allow be deva stating. The children would be the worst affected group among all if they eat chemical mixed food items. Formaldehyde causes various gastro-intestinal disorders if consumed for long.Most of the chemicals may result in long-term skin diseases, damage lungs and kidneys and some of them can scram cancers. BSTI revea guide that about 1,000 drinking water factories exist in the country, but four hundred of which have licenses from the BSTI. Bottlers of drinking water factories have mushroomed with little regard to obligingness of standard or BSTI license. Despite BSTI cancelling the licenses of 139 bottling factories in the last 18 months, there has been news of setting up of new factories in new locations.The result children and aged people are facing constant threat of diseases even with the bottled water produced by these factories. The awareness issue The depressing part is that most of the traders or producers using chemicals in foods are not aware of its long-term impact on huma n body and surrounding environment. The only gor, which motivates them, is the additional income on sales. Many of them even do not know the summon of the chemicals they are spraying on the foods to speed-up the ripening process. They just go to the apothecarys shop and they get the medicine without any permit.Besides, contaminated food once consumed does not result quickly in human body. Over time, these chemicals slowly roll a human body into an ideal host for deadly diseases and sometimes result in the development of cancer and other fatal diseases. Nevertheless, the government along with media is trying to improve the awareness condition with many activities. The most successful initiative to date was the anti adulteration drive led by a rambling court. This drive started back in 2007 with a team that included a magistrate, media partners and police.For two consecutive years, the drive was a success and the magistrate Rokon-Ud-Dowla became a celebrity. During that time, th e mobile court unveiled most of the adulteration mechanisms used by traders and producers. Since the drive was not backed by a comprehensive plan later when politically challenged the effectiveness diluted eventually. Penalties The excellent Food Act 1959 that prosecutes offenders of food adulteration has a ludicrously low penalty of Tk. 200. In spite of the nominal delicately, the amount realized from the mobile court drives has been enormous. In 2012, a vigilance team of National Consumers in good order Protection Directorate has realized taka two lakh and six railway yard as fine from different hotels, restaurants and fast food shops for selling adulterated and rotten foods in the International Trade Fair at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. * Kentucky deep-fried Chicken (KFC) was sued in Dhaka due to its use of adulterated vegetable oil to prepare high cost food this year. Authority says KFC outlets of Dhaka and Chittagong have taken no step to maintain standard of foods though many of t hose were fined for sub-standard foods and unhygienic condition of their kitchens. On August 7, 2011, a mobile court for food in Chittagong found rotten vegetables and tomatoes in their (KFCs) refrigerator, and found that their salad packets do not have information about the compositions and nutrition facts. subsequently the court fined BDT 25,000, but said they are punishing minimally only to warn them, KFC should be careful about their quality. 11 BSTI sources revealed that it conducted 1,039 mobile courts crosswise the country in seven months from July 2010 to February 2011 and detected rampant malpractice and adulteration in the food production centers. Some Tk. 23. million were realized as fine during the drives while 1,086 cases were filed and 66 people were sent to jail. 7 The Solution The vanquish solution to reduce adulteration is transparency and regulation. If the process of food producers is exposed, they leave behind be forced to provide the customers with good healt hy and hygienic food. Some of the solutions could be * Return of Mobile Court As mentioned previously, the anti-adulteration mobile court led by Rokon-ud-Dawla was a huge success. It made the restaurants show their honest face. The mobile court still exists and has freshly found adulterated oil at a KFC outlet.However, many more small and large restaurants have such complaints against them. Therefore, the mobile courts activity needs to be more widespread and regular. It may also be led by a permanent organization. With such activity restaurant owners will have to be aware about healthy food. * The Transparent Window The miasmal window is a concept where the customers will be able to see the kitchen of a restaurant to ensure hygiene. The kitchen should not be made only open to public, as restaurants may not want to show their recipe. A completely open kitchen is also vulnerable to dust and therefore unhygienic.Therefore, every(prenominal) kitchen should have a large transparent window through which customers themselves will be able to judge whether the kitchen is hygienic enough. This will directly affect the restaurants as they always look forward to satisfying their customers. * Tax gelded Restaurants should have an evaluation system governed by the monitoring/regulatory committee. The original VAT rate for restaurants is 15%. If a restaurant gets a full-marks refreshen from that committee the restaurant may be charged with a lesser VAT say 12. 5%. This will be a owing(p) way to motivate restaurant owners to making healthy food.Owners will, to a sealed extent, find healthy food a way to lower their footing of food and thus be able to attract more customers. Conclusion Food adulteration has been a burning problem in Bangladesh since a few years. Especially after the initiation of the mobile court drive in 2007, widespread media attention has been given to the malpractices prevalent in the food industry. Although it seemed initially that the drive would bring fruitful results, the effort has sagged in recent times. Through revival of the mobile court drive, increase of transparency and need of food akers through tax benefit, we can hope to ensure that food will be kept in its own unadulterated form. 1 . Kurgan, P. & Wells, R. (2006). Economics, New York, Worth Publishers. 2 . Haque, M. M. (2009). Food adulteration by chemicals and diseases. The pecuniary Express. Retrieved from http//www. thefinancialexpress-bd. com/2009/07/31/74799. html 3 . Mass campaign to stop food adulteration. (2011). Retrieved from http//www. rdrsbangla. net/Resources/ContentFile/contentFile_4e82cdc5d1c17. pdf 5 . Yousuf, M. A. (2011).Nourishment or Toxin A Critical Appraisal on the Food Adulteration Issue in Bangladesh (Part A). 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