Awareness to ensure safe food along with law: Food Minister

The government is emphasizing on a nutrient-safe diet, in addition to being self-sufficient in granular food. However, a law for safe food is not enough, all parties have to be aware about it.

Minister for Food Sadhan Chandra Majumder said this during the inauguration of a food fair for World Food Day on Tuesday.

With 46 governmental and privately owned institutions participating this year, the three-day fair started on Tuesday at the Krishibid Institution Bangladesh premises in Farmgate.

The Food Minister said, "Safety methods have to be adopted from crop production to preparation to serving of food to ensure safe food. For example, if someone buys organic food from the market but the housekeepers do not process it properly, like if they do not wash their hands properly, then the food will not be safe."

Speaking about food security in the country, the food minister said, "Since 2016, we have been distributing 30 kilograms of rice for Tk10 per kg to 50 lakh poor families per month during the five months of unemployment."

"This is the largest social food security net for the poor in Bangladesh," he added.

Agriculture and food are under the same ministry in other countries but in our country it is different, said the food minister. The Ministry of Agriculture is celebrating World Food Day this year as in previous years.

The minister hopes that the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Livestock will be celebrating this day together from next year.

Minister of State for Fisheries and Livestock Md Ashraf Ali Khan Khasru and Agronomist Abdul Mannan, MP were the special guests at the programme.  Among others were Robert D Simpson, Bangladesh's representative to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The keynote paper was presented by the director of the Nutrition Institute of Mahidol University in Thailand, Dr Wisith Chavisit.