Food Safety in Bangladesh: Practices, Impact, Policies and Institutions

Research Report prepared for IFPRI under the  Policy Research and Strategy Support Program (PRSSP)

The research was performed by M Asaduzzaman, Nazneen Ahmed, Md. Rokonuddowlah, and Prof. A B M Faroque.

Food safety is a major matter of public health issue in Bangladesh. Unfortunately, the concerns so far have not been backed by solid scientific research of the extent of the problems, their root causes, the stages of food chain where the adulteration or willing contamination occurs, the technical, social and economic factors behind such contamination, the health impairment due to unsafe food, and the legal, policy and institutional aspects for minimising or eradication of the problem. Consequently the attempts to ensure safe food had been only sporadic, ad hoc, incomplete and ineffective. The present study tries to put these issues together to get a better perspective of the problem.