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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 required quality standards.
The products include spices manufactured by Bombay Sweets and ghee and butter oil sold under several brands, including Baghbari.
BSTI also issued show-cause notices to the manufacturers, asking why their licences should not be cancelled for failing to maintain the required standards.
BSTI disclosed the information in a notice issued on Wednesday.
As part of its regular monitoring, BSTI recently collected products from different companies from the market and tested them at its modern laboratories. While several products met the required standards, some brands of ghee, butter oil and spices were found to be substandard.
Laboratory tests found that Baghbari ghee contained no milk fat, the essential component of genuine ghee. Instead, it was made from palm olein and vanaspati and marketed as ghee, according to BSTI.
The tests also found that several Bombay Sweets products failed to meet Bangladesh Standards (BDS) requirements on various parameters.
The products manufactured by Bombay Sweets and Co Ltd that failed the tests include curry powder, duck meat spice, tehari spice, kala bhuna spice, beef spice and fish spice.
Other substandard products identified by BSTI include Baghbari ghee produced by Baghbari Premium Ghee Company, Arun Baghbari ghee produced by Kishoreganj Food Products, New Radhuni ghee and City ghee produced by Messrs Mamun Food Products, and Elders butter oil produced by Elders Food Products and Packaging Industries.
BSTI Director General (Secretary) Kazi Imdadul Haque said maintaining product quality in line with national standards is both a legal and ethical responsibility of every licensed manufacturer.
“If any organisation fails to fulfil this responsibility, BSTI is committed to taking necessary legal action,” he said.
He added that BSTI was maintaining strict surveillance to prevent counterfeit and adulterated products while continuing to issue quality certification to compliant products.
