BSTI Orders 10 Substandard Products Withdrawn From Market

The Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) has ordered the withdrawal of 10 products from the market after laboratory tests found them to be below the standards set under Bangladesh Standards (BDS).

BSTI has also issued show-cause notices to the manufacturers, asking why their licences should not be cancelled.

The agency advised consumers on Wednesday to refrain from purchasing the products after laboratory tests confirmed that they failed to meet the required standards.

As part of its regular surveillance programme, BSTI recently collected products from different companies from the market and tested them at its laboratories. While several products met the required standards, certain brands of ghee, butter oil and spices were found to be substandard.

Laboratory tests found that Baghabari ghee did not contain the required level of milk fat. BSTI said palm olein and vegetable fat were being used in the product marketed as ghee.

Several spice products manufactured by Bombay Sweets & Co Ltd also failed to meet specified BDS parameters.

The products were found to contain excessive levels of total ash and salt. They include Duck Meat Spice, Tehari Masala, Kala Bhuna Masala, Beef Masala and Fish Masala.

The other products found to be below the required standards include:

Baghabari ghee by Baghabari Premium Ghee Company
Arun Baghabari ghee by Kishoreganj Food Products
New Radhuni ghee by Messrs Mamun Food Products
City ghee by Messrs Mamun Food Products
Elders butter oil by Elders Food Products and Packaging Industries

The ghee and butter oil products failed laboratory tests on several parameters, including refractive index, iodine value, saponification value and Polenske value.

BSTI Director General Kazi Imdadul Haque said maintaining product quality according to national standards is both a legal and ethical responsibility of every licensed manufacturer.

He said BSTI would take necessary legal action against companies that fail to fulfil that responsibility and would continue strict surveillance to prevent counterfeit and adulterated products.

The BSTI chief also advised consumers to check the BSTI certification mark, licence number, production and expiry dates, ingredients and other relevant information before purchasing products.

Consumers can report complaints concerning product quality, adulteration, fraud or misuse of the BSTI certification mark through the agency's hotline 16119 or by email at dg@bsti.gov.bd.