To build a modern and safe food system skilled people and high-quality food testing labs are essentials for the country. A food safety laboratory is going to be established in Dhaka with help from the Japanese government and JICA.
Food Adviser Ali Imam Majumder said this at a seminar titled ‘Modern Food Safety System in Bangladesh’ organized by the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) held at a city hotel in capital on Monday. Director of the Institute of Food Science and Technology Manjur Morshed Ahmed presented the keynote paper at the seminar.
He said, “Bangladesh has a huge potential to export food and there is global demand, but we cannot use this opportunity fully because we cannot ensure our food is safe in all cases. If we can ensure food safety and quality, we can enter the international market and our export earnings from the food and agriculture sectors will increase many times.”
“The current government, with Japan’s help, has started a project to build a modern food testing lab in Dhaka. This lab will serve as the national reference laboratory for the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA). An office building and a special training center will also be built. We are also trying to build labs and offices in Chattogram and Khulna,” he added.
Japanese Ambassador Shinichi Saida said, “Japan has been helping Bangladesh in many sectors like energy, ports, roads, metro, and agriculture. Safe food is a welcome new area of our cooperation.”
“The government of Japan has signed a loan agreement with the Bangladesh government to help improve the food lab’s capacity. We are also continuing our support through technical cooperation projects. The Bangladesh government will hire enough food safety inspectors and professionals to make the laboratories effective and establish a modern food safety system,” he added.
Food Secretary Md. Masudul Hasan said, “Short-term and partial solutions are not enough. What we need is a complete, modern, safe food system. The Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) and JICA are working tirelessly to build this system with help from others.”
BFSA Chairman Zakaria thanked JICA and the government of Japan for their sincere cooperation with the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority.
Manjur Morshed Ahmed, who presented the main paper, said: "Unsafe food causes about 200 types of diseases. On average, 1.6 million people worldwide get sick every day from eating unsafe food." He stated that without safe food, it will be difficult to achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals for zero poverty, zero hunger, and good health. He also highlighted the importance of using scientific methods for modern food safety management.
