শুক্রবার, ৩০ অক্টোবর ২০২৬, ০১:২৩ অপরাহ্ন
DHAKA, Oct 30, 2026 (BSS) – The Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) has strengthened its efforts to prevent food adulteration, contamination and fraud, and to protect public health.
Its initiatives include regulatory enforcement, mobile court operations, food establishment inspections, food sample testing, training and public awareness campaigns.
From February to September 2026, the BFSA conducted a total of 937 mobile court operations and drives and monitored 9,985 food establishments, said a document placed in the last parliamentary standing committee meeting of the Ministry of Food.
Monthly data show that the highest number of mobile court operations and drives, 329, was recorded in August.
Meanwhile, food establishment monitoring peaked in March, with 1,878 establishments inspected.
Operations of the eight mobile laboratories in eight metropolitan cities also strengthened the food safety monitoring and helped prevent food adulteration and contamination.
The mobile laboratories are a key component of the government-funded “Capacity Building of the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (2nd Revised Project),” which is scheduled to run from July 2021 to June 2027.
Alongside the mobile laboratories, the project has completed the establishment of one laboratory at the BFSA headquarters and 72 mini laboratories at the field level.
The initiative aims to improve the country’s food safety management system through rapid food testing, enhanced surveillance, modern laboratory facilities and increased public awareness.
The mobile laboratories are designed to facilitate the rapid analysis of food and food-related materials, enabling food safety officials to support monitoring activities and identify potential food safety risks.
Their deployment across all eight divisional cities marks a significant step towards strengthening the BFSA’s technical capacity to address food adulteration and contamination.
Testing kits and other necessary chemicals have also been supplied to support food sample analysis.
The authority has introduced a digitalized food safety surveillance system and established a database platform at its headquarters.
As of September 27, 2026, information on 203,732 food business operators had been uploaded to the database.
The project aims to include information on approximately 1.013 million food business operators and food establishments nationwide.
Development of the project’s e-learning platform has been completed, with nine of the 13 planned learning modules developed. The remaining four modules are yet to be completed.
To facilitate public access to food safety information, the BFSA has also established an online call centre.
Its toll-free helpline, 16155, has been operational since February 2, 2023, providing a channel for consumers and other stakeholders to seek food safety-related information and assistance.
The project also emphasizes public awareness and capacity building. As of January 27, 2026, a total of 150 training programmes had been conducted for food business operators, teachers and street food vendors.
In addition, 69 workshops had been organized at the district level, while 1,549 seminars had been held at the upazila and school levels.
Against the project targets of 190 training programmes, 194 workshops and 1,575 seminars, 40 training programmes, 125 workshops and 26 seminars remain to be completed.
With an estimated cost of Taka 108.75 crore, the project is expected to strengthen food safety infrastructure and monitoring capacity across Bangladesh.
The operationalization of the eight mobile laboratories, together with the central and field-level laboratory facilities, provides an important foundation for improving food sample testing and food safety surveillance.
Completing the remaining project activities by June 2027 will be essential to maximizing these investments and strengthening consumer protection against unsafe and adulterated food.
Meanwhile, on October 14, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman inspected a mobile laboratory van at the Secretariat, observing how food samples are collected and tested to ensure safety.
