THIS is unacceptable that the authorities have not yet been able to make producers withdraw unauthorised electrolyte drinks even after a court order to this end. The authorities first failed to take action on their own against the unauthorised production, marketing and sales of electrolyte drinks and now, they appear non-committal about addressing an issue of public health. The Dhaka Pure Food Court on May 14 issued warrants for the arrest of top officials of seven companies after the Food Safety Authority had filed five cases on charges of unauthorised production, marketing and sale of electrolyte drinks. The electrolyte drinks 鈥� SMC Plus of Acme and SMC, Aktive+ of Pran, Bruvana of Bruvana Beverage Limited, Recharge of Deshbandhu and Agami Company, and Turbo of Akij 鈥� have no approval of the Directorate General of Drug Administration and the Standards and Testing Institution. The complaints say that the companies were marketing and selling the drinks through advertisements on YouTube channels and social media sites, spreading false information about their health benefits. The court also asked the Food Safety Authority and the manufacturers to withdraw the drinks from the market. Yet, electrolyte drinks produced by all seven companies are still available on the market.
The situation brings a number of issues regarding food safety to the fore. This beats the logic that a product such as an electrolyte drink, believed to help people suffering from electrolyte imbalance but whose unauthorised intake can be dangerous, is produced and sold without permission. As electrolyte drinks fall both under the purview of the Directorate General of Drug Administration and the Standards and Testing Institution, both the agencies have a responsibility to monitor the production and sales of such products. And yet, none of the agencies did anything. This brings forth the issue of substandard food and drugs that are available on the market. Hundreds of consumer goods, including a large number of food items, produced locally or imported, make their way to the market without any standards testing or certification, posing a serious threat to public health. The goods can make their way to the market as they are not on the 鈥榳atch list鈥� of the Standards and Testing Institution, the sole national standardisation agency mandated to ensure that consumer goods are safe for consumption. Similarly, lax drug control measures, inadequate drug testing facilities and an ineffective market monitoring mechanism have largely contributed to a public health system that has failed to ensure people鈥檚 access to quality drugs.
The authorities must, therefore, ensure that all unauthorised electrolyte drinks are withdrawn from the market. The government must enforce food laws to ensure safe consumer goods and bring companies and businesspeople that produce or import substandard food items to justice through regular inspection and monitoring. The government must also empower and equip the Directorate General of Drug Administration and the Standards and Testing Institution so that they can deliver their responsibilities properly.