Pure Food Court orders Hakim Pury Zarda to recall products 

The Pure Food Court on Monday ordered Hakim Pury to withdraw its chewing products from the market because they are contaminated with heavy metals.

The directive came on the same day that the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) filed a lawsuit at the court in Nagar Bhaban in the capital, after detecting that the product contained harmful heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and chromium. 

BFSA sanitary inspector Kamrul Hasan filed the case and sought an order to pull out Hakim Pury Zarda from the market.

Kamrul Hasan told this correspondent, "The law clearly states that 'zarda' must not contain lead, chromium and cadmium because such heavy metals can be harmful for public health."

The court of Magistrate Mehedi Pavel Sweet took the case into cognizance and set December 31 for hearing. 

The court also asked the BFSA for information on the action that has been taken against this harmful product. 

Two months ago, the BFSA collected samples of 22 varieties of smokeless tobacco (zarda), catechu (khoyer) and burnt tobacco powder (gul). 

Lab tests revealed that the samples contained heavy metals including lead, cadmium and chromium.   

'Jorda' produced by 13 companies including Hakim Pury, 'khoyer' of six companies and 'gul' of three companies were flagged by the Safe Food Authority in tests.           

The BFSA found the hazardous substances in 22 samples, ranging from 2 milligrams to 11.2 milligrams in size.     

Each kilogram of Hakim Pury products have 26 milligrams of lead, 0.95 milligrams of cadmium and 1.65 milligrams of chromium, according to the food safety authority.

Experts say these heavy metals could cause liver damage and life-threatening diseases such as cancer.