'Excessive' Lead in Turmeric Powder

'Excessive' Lead in Turmeric Powder

Pran nonchalant, govt silent

The company insists it has no plan to recall product from local market

Despite detection of excessive lead in Pran’s turmeric powder and recalls by stores in the US, the government and the company seem little concerned to act to ensure health safety of thousands of local consumers.
Pran, a food processor and exporter, yesterday reiterated that it would not recall its turmeric powder from the home market, claiming it has tested samples of the spice from the local market and is “over sure that it contains no lead”.
The government for its part is moving slow. The only known government action, taken by Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI), is the issuance of a letter to Pran, seeking explanation on the matter.
And it is so despite multiple US tests have found high level of lead, ranging from 28ppm to 53ppm, in Pran’s turmeric powder.
The permissible limit of lead in the product in the US could not be immediately known, but it is 2.5ppm in Bangladesh.
The limit may vary in different countries but it can never exceed 2.5ppm in any country, according to a top official of BSTI.
Since October 3, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) posted several press releases on its website about the detection of high level of lead in the Pran product and its recalls by four US stores in New York, Dallas and Detroit.
The FDA also warned consumers not to consume the product of certain batches any more because of health risks.
Contacted, Food Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque just said: “It is matter of concern for us. We will look into it.”
Commerce Minister Ghulam Mohammed Quader was not available for comments.
Asked what action the commerce ministry had taken to protect public safety and rights, its Secretary Mahbub Ahmed said none.
“We cannot take any action on our own without receiving compliant from consumers,” he added.
Mahbub said he learned the matter from newspaper reports and was unaware about FDA’s press releases.
Asked if the ministry would ask the company to recall its turmeric powder from the domestic market, he said: “How can we take action without detail analysis? We cannot take action based on newspaper reports.
“We are looking into the matter with due importance.”
Approached, BSTI Director General Iqramul Haque said the agency sought explanation from Pran over the excessive lead in its turmeric powder.
It, however, did not give any time limit for the company to turn in the explanation.
“We have tested samples from the local market and have not found any lead in that turmeric powder,” he said, adding that the test was done last week.
Asked how then the US authorities found such high level of lead, he said: “We do not know which sample of turmeric powder the company has exported. So, we have asked the company why products tested in the US were found to have lead.”
He said the BSTI conducted its test through machines and there was no scope for manipulation.
He said the BSTI would take further action after receiving Pran’s explanation. “We cannot ask for recalling a product. We will cancel its certificate if lead is found.”
One industry insider, however, says in some cases companies provide “special samples” to the BSTI for tests. These samples are “specially made”.
Talking to The Daily Star, Pran Director (marketing) Kamruzzaman Kamal yesterday said his company had no plan to recall its turmeric powder from the domestic market.
“We have done the testing by collecting samples randomly from the market. We are cent percent sure that there is no lead in our product. So, we are not going to recall our product from the domestic market.”
He claimed the last test was done on October 10 at Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) where no lead was found.
He also claimed Pran exported more spices than it sold in the local market. But when pressed for the breakdown, he could not provide any.
On sending its clarification to the BSTI, he said he was yet to receive the BSTI letter.
Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan, general secretary of Consumers Association of Bangladesh, feared that the presence of lead in the locally marketed turmeric powder might be higher than those found in the US.
“It should also be withdrawn from our market for consumer safety. We urge the commerce ministry to act immediately in this regard,” he added.

Published: Monday, October 21, 2013

All-party Polls-time Govt

Who to head it is main hurdle

History to revisit as Khaleda responds to PM's proposal today

Shakhawat Liton and Hasan Jahid Tusher

In response to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s offer to form an all-party government to oversee the national election, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia may give a proposal today for making a non-partisan person the head of that polls-time administration.
If Hasina agrees in principle to the proposal, Khaleda will respond positively to her archrival’s latest offer, said a BNP policymaker, mentioning the decisions made at Saturday’s meeting of the BNP standing committee.
On the other hand, ruling Awami League leaders said Hasina would be at the helm of the election-time government.
They, however, said if BNP agrees to get to the negotiating table and refuses to accept Hasina as the head of the interim government, the AL might propose Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, also an AL lawmaker, for the post, said sources in the AL.
But they wouldn’t accept any proposal for making a non-partisan person the prime minister of the polls-time government, said the sources.
Observing the current situation, political analysts now predict a re-enactment of previous political scenes where Hasina and Khaleda only swapped their stances over the issue of election-time government.
About 18 years ago, the then prime minister Khaleda didn’t accept a proposal from Hasina, then in opposition, for making a non-partisan person the head of the election-time government to break the political stalemate.
During the 1995 impasse over national election, Hasina, who then led the opposition’s agitation for introducing caretaker government system, made the proposal to a group of five eminent citizens that was negotiating with the two leaders to resolve the crisis.
The group included former chief justice Kemal Uddin Hossain, Prof Rehman Sobhan and Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed.
Following their persuasion, Khaleda agreed to step down as prime minister but gave a condition that a BNP lawmaker would be the head of the interim government.
Subsequently, their move failed to break the political deadlock, and the then BNP-led government held the controversial February 15 election in 1996 amid a boycott by other major political parties.
After 18 years, Khaleda and her party expect Hasina to accept the proposal for making a non-partisan person the head of the election-time government.
In her address to the nation on Friday, Hasina proposed forming an all-party election-time government and urged BNP to nominate its lawmakers for inclusion in the interim cabinet.
Hasina, however, didn’t specify the size of the cabinet and its scope of work or who would head the cabinet. It wasn’t clear from her speech when the interim cabinet would be formed.
However, from the following day, some ministers and senior AL leaders have been saying that Hasina would lead the interim cabinet.
“We want Sheikh Hasina as the head of the interim government. However, the scope for discussions on the issue is there, albeit on a limited scale,” Finance Minister AMA Muhith told reporters yesterday at his secretariat office.
AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam has been given the responsibility for holding discussions with the BNP and other political parties to end the political impasse, said Muhith.
AL Presidium Member Kazi Zafarullah told The Daily Star that Ashraf, also the LGRD and cooperatives minister, would brief foreign diplomats on the government’s stance on the next election, polls-time government and parliamentary issues.
If the BNP agrees to get to the negotiating table, the issue of an all-party election-time government could be discussed, he said.
In her address to the nation, Hasina requested Khaleda to respond to her call.
Khaleda will clarify today her party’s stance on Hasina’s proposal and the opposition’s demand for a non-partisan government to oversee the next election, said BNP insiders.
“If Sheikh Hasina agrees to the proposal for making a non-partisan person the prime minister, we are open to discussions on how to appoint the head of the interim government,” said a BNP policymaker, who attended Saturday’s meeting of the BNP standing committee.
The BNP doesn’t consider the appointment of other members of the interim cabinet a major issue, said the BNP policymaker, asking not to be named.
Following the discussions at Saturday’s meeting, the BNP drafted proposals that the party chief might announce today at a press conference, according to BNP insiders.
Speaking at a convention of pro-BNP professionals yesterday, Khaleda said she would hold a press conference today and would speak in detail about the election-time government and other crucial issues.

সর্বদলীয় সরকার গঠন প্রস্তাবে মিশ্র প্রতিক্রিয়া

প্রধানমন্ত্রীর প্রস্তাবিত সর্বদলীয় সরকারের ব্যাপারে শনিবার সন্ধ্যা পর্যন্ত কোনো আনুষ্ঠানিক প্রতিক্রিয়া জানায়নি বিএনপি৷ তবে ১৮ দলীয় জোটে বিএনপি’র প্রধান শরিক জামায়াতে ইসলামী সর্বদলীয় সরকারের প্রস্তাব প্রত্যাখ্যান করেছে৷

সুশীল সমাজ মনে করে শুক্রবার প্রধানমন্ত্রী শেখ হাসিনা নির্বাচনের সময় যে সর্বদলীয় সরকারের প্রস্তাব দিয়েছেন তা নিয়ে আলোচনা শুরু করা যায়৷ তাঁরা মনে করেন আলোচনা শুরু হলে সেখান থেকে আরো কিছু বিষয়ে সিদ্ধান্ত নেয়া যাবে৷ ব্যারিস্টার রফিক-উল হক মনে করেন সব সমস্যার সমাধান একবারে হয় না৷ এখন সর্বদলীয় সরকারের প্রধান কে হবেন তা আলোচনা শুরু না করলে কিভাবে নিস্পত্তি হবে? সাবেক তত্ত্বাবধায়ক সরকারের উপদেষ্টা আকবর আলি খানও মনে করেন প্রধানমন্ত্রী বেশ কিছু বিষয় স্পষ্ট করেছেন৷ যেমন নির্বাচনের সময়, সরকার পদ্ধতি ইত্যাদি৷ তবে কিছু বিষয় স্পষ্ট নয়৷ যা আলোচনার মাধ্যমে ঠিক করা সম্ভব৷
এদিকে জাতীয় পার্টি শনিবার বর্ধিত সভার পর বলেছে তারা প্রধানমন্ত্রীর প্রস্তাব আরো বিশদভাবে পর্যালোচনা করে তবে আনুষ্ঠানিক প্রতিক্রিয়া জানাবে৷ মহাসচিব রুহুল আমীন হাওলাদার বলেছেন, সর্বদলীয় সরকারের প্রধান কে হবেন তা স্পষ্ট করেননি প্রধানমন্ত্রী৷ আর নির্বাচনের সময় সংসদ কার্যকর থাকবে কিনা তাও পরিষ্কার করা হয়নি৷ এই প্রশ্নের জবাব চান তাঁরা৷ সিপিবিও একই প্রশ্ন তুলেছে৷
বিএনপি নেতা ব্যারিস্টার রফিকুল ইসলাম মিয়া মনে করেন এই সর্বদলীয় সরকারের প্রস্তাব আসলে ভাওতাবাজী৷ বর্তমান প্রধানমন্ত্রীই যদি সর্বদলীয় সরকারের প্রধান হন তাহলে দলীয় সরকারের সঙ্গে এর কোনো পার্থক্য থাকবে না৷ তিনি বলেন তত্ত্বাবধায়ক সরকারের কোনো বিকল্প নেই৷ আর এজন্য চূড়ান্ত আন্দোলনেই যেতে হবে৷
বিএনপি'র ভারপ্রাপ্ত মহাসচিব মির্জা ফখরুল ইসলাম আলমগীর বলেছেন সরকার দ্বৈত নীতি নিয়েছে৷ তাঁরা একদিকে গণতন্ত্র এবং নির্বাচনের কথা বলছে৷ আরেক দিকে সভা সমাবেশ নিষিদ্ধ করছে৷ তাই আন্দোলনের কোনো বিকল্প নেই৷ তবে নেতাদের এইসব কথা শেষ পর্যন্ত কি ফলাফল দেবে তা বোঝা যাবে বিএনপি'র আনুষ্ঠানিক প্রতিক্রিয়ার পর৷ আর জাতীয় পার্টিও বিএনপি'র আনুষ্ঠানিক প্রতিক্রিয়া দেখে তাদের প্রতিক্রিয়া জানাবে বলে জানা গেছে৷
এদিকে আইন প্রতিমন্ত্রী কামরুল ইসলাম বলেছেন প্রধানমন্ত্রীর প্রস্তাবের পর বল এখন বিরোধী দলের কোর্টে৷ এখন তারাই সিদ্ধান্ত নেবেন প্রধানমন্ত্রীর প্রস্তাবে সাড়া দেবেন কিনা৷ যদি সাড়া দেন তাহলে আলোচনার জন্য চিঠি চালাচালি শুরু হবে বলে জানান তিনি৷

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