The food authority has ordered the spice companies to refrain from using lead in turmeric powders.
The companies have been ordered to test their products before marketing and the consumers have been advised to use raw turmeric powder.
Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) issued an open advertisement on Wednesday (Oct 10) warning of the side effects of lead in food items.
The advertisement was issued after a study by International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) on collaboration with Stanford University found high amount of lead in the blood of expecting mothers in Bangladesh.
The study found that the tumeric powder, a common spice in Bangladeshi food, was adulterated with lead.
According to the advertisement, despite the harmful effects, lead chromate was being illegally used in the commercial production of turmeric to give it colour.
However, according to the Food Safety Act, 2013, use of artificial colouring in powdered spices is banned.
The advertisement warned the producers, suppliers, distributors and sellers to refrain from marketing such harmful products.
Responding to queries on the matter, BFSA member Additional Secretary Mahbub Kabir said that the lead found in the blood was identical to the ones in the marketed turmeric powders.
“It means that the lead is entering our body through lead chromate which is used in the production of turmeric powder,” he said.
He added that around 600 tonne of lead chromate is imported to Bangladesh for the industrial sector but it is yet unknown what it’s used for.
“Unless the chemicals are controlled, these adulterations cannot be controlled. We first need to cut off the source,” Kabir said.
He added that strict measured will be undertaken with minimum fines of Tk 300,000 if lead is found in the products.
The BFSA advertisement said that lead is a poisonous metal whose side effects include permanent brain damage, premature death.