Undo barriers to availability of vitamin-enriched edible oil

Soybean oil

Dhaka, Apr 29 - Speakers at journalists’ workshop on Tuesday said a coordinated effort is needed among the Ministry of Industries, BSTI, the Directorate of National Consumers’ Rights Protection, Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA), and all other relevant agencies to ensure consumer access to safe edible oil.

They said this at a journalists' workshop titled "Vitamin Fortified Safe Edible Oil for All: Progress, Challenges and Way Forward" in the city.

Vitamin ‘A’ deficiency causes physiological issues that include blindness, maternal death during pregnancy, etc. On the other hand, Vitamin ‘D’ deficiency causes rickets, leads to a loss of bone density and increases the chances of developing heart diseases, hypertension, diabetes, and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

The workshop was jointly organised by the research and advocacy organization PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) and the National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh. Twenty-six (26) journalists from print, television, and online media houses participated in the workshop.

Deputy Director (CM) of Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) S. M. Abu Sayed, head of epidemiology & research department of National Heart Foundation Hospital & Research Institute (NHF&RI) Professor Dr. Sohel Reza Choudhury,  (former Additional Secretary) and consultant, NHF&RI Mustak Hassan Md. Iftekhar, associate scientist of James P Grant School of Public Health Abu Ahmed Shamim, acting editor of Bangladesh First Morshed Noman,  and ABM Zubair, executive director of PROGGA were present at the event as discussants. 

Speakers at the workshop presented that according to the National Micronutrient Survey 2011-12, every one out of five preschool-aged children suffers from Vitamin ‘A’ deficiency while every two out of five children suffer from Vitamin ‘D’ deficiency. Marketing edible oil without Vitamin ‘A’ fortification is a punishable offense according to the Vitamin ‘A’ Enrichment in Edible Oils Act, 2013.

According to a study conducted by icddr,b, about 65% of the total edible oil in the market is sold in drums. Of which, 59% of the oil contains no vitamin A, while 34% contains less than the required amount. Only 7% of the bulk oil sold in drums meets the standard as per the law. As a result, the general public is being deprived of the benefits of the law.

The workshop also said that despite directives from the Ministry of Industries to stop the marketing of bulk soybean oil in drums by July 2022 and bulk palm oil by December 2022, these directives have yet to be effectively implemented.

emphasising the importance of ensuring quality packaging for edible oil, they said exposure to sunlight or any light causes vitamin A to degrade and eventually disappear. Since most of the bottles used for marketing edible oil are not light-resistant, the quality and nutritional value of the oil diminish over time.

Program Manager of Large Scale Food Fortification (LSFF) of NHF&RI Dr. Rina Rani Paul presented the key presentation while head of programmes of PROGGA Md Hasan Shahriar spoke at the event. - UNB