A Dhaka Pure Food Court on Sunday slapped fines on The ACME Agrovet & Beverages Ltd owner Tanveer Sinha and Deshbandhu Food & Beverage Ltd chairman Golam Mostafa in separate cases filed on charges of unauthorised production of electrolyte drinks.
Tanveer Sinha was fined Tk 16 lakh, while Golam Mostafa was fined Tk12 lakh by the court.
The judge of the court, Alaul Akbar, however, granted bail to both of them.聽
The court passed the order after they apologised to the court pleading guilty, said Dhaka South City Corporation food safety inspector Kamrul Hasan who filed the cases.聽
The companies gave written undertakings that they would withdraw their electrolyte drinks from the market, said Kamrul.聽聽聽聽聽
Tanveer Sinha and Golam Mostafa surrendered to the court following arrest warrants.聽
Advocate Abdul Baten, representing Golam Mostafa, informed the court that the incident occurred without the knowledge of the company chairman, and the production of the drink took place under a contract with a sister concern that expired in 2023.
The court imposed fines on the Deshbandhu chairman under sections 32 (kha), 33, and 39 of the Food Safety Act 2013.
Earlier on May 17, the court fined Waliul Islam, owner of another company named SMC Enterprise Ltd, Tk 16 lakh in a case filed on charges of unauthorised marketing and sale of electrolyte drinks.
On May 14, the court issued arrest warrants against top bosses of seven companies after DSCC food safety inspector Kamrul Hasan had filed five cases on charges of unauthorised production, marketing and sale of electrolyte drinks on that day.
The court fixed June 5 and June 9 for next hearings in the case.
Officials against whom arrest warrants were issued are Tanveer Sinha, owner of The ACME Agrovet & Beverages Ltd, which produces SMC Plus orange and lemon-flavoured electrolyte drinks; Waliul Islam, owner of SMC Enterprise Ltd, the company responsible for marketing the ACME drinks; Golam Mostafa, chairman of Deshbandhu Food & Beverage Ltd which produces Recharge Orange Revive Electrolyte Drink; and Sarajit Baral, chief executive officer, Agami Limited which is Deshbandhu鈥檚 marketing partner.
The others facing the arrest warrants are Ahsan Khan Chowdhury, chairman and chief executive officer of Pran Dairy Ltd which produces orange and lemon flavoured Aktive+ Electrolyte Drink; Sheikh Shamim Uddin, chairman, Akij Food and Beverage Limited which produces Turbo Electrolyte Sports Drink; and Md Touhidul Islam, factory in-charge of Br眉vana Beverage Limited which produces mango flavoured Bruvana Sports+ Electrolyte Beverage.
According to the case, the marketed electrolyte drinks have no approval from the Directorate General of Drug Administration and the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution.
The complaints also included that the companies were marketing and selling the electrolyte drinks through advertisements on YouTube channels and social media sites, spreading false information about the products鈥� health benefits, such as curing dehydration and controlling low blood pressure.