Experts have urged to ban the sale of loose edible oil in open drums to ensure safe Vitamin ‘A’-fortified edible oil for all. At the same time, they also emphasized the importance of fortifying edible oil with Vitamin ‘D’. According to the National Micronutrient Survey 2011-12, every one out of five preschool-aged children suffer from Vitamin ‘A’ deficiency while every two out of five children suffer from Vitamin ‘D’ deficiency. Such issues and recommendations were highlighted by discussants at a two-day workshop for journalists titled “Safe Vitamin Fortified Edible Oil for All: Progress, Challenges, and Way Forward”, held at the BMA Bhaban in Dhaka on 29-30 October 2024. The workshop was jointly organized by the research and advocacy organization PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) and the National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh. Twenty-seven (27) journalists from print, television, and online media houses participated in the workshop.

It was informed at the workshop that marketing edible oil without Vitamin ‘A’ fortification is a punishable offense according to the Vitamin ‘A’ Enrichment in Edible Oils Act, 2013. However, the general people are being deprived of the benefits of this act as most of the edible oil marketed in drums is not vitamin ‘A’-fortified. According to a study conducted by icddr,b in 2017, 65% of the total edible oil sold in Bangladesh is marketed in drums, of which, 59% does not contain Vitamin ‘A’ and 34% is poorly Vitamin ‘A’-fortified. Only 7% of the bulk oil sold in drums meets the standard as per the law.

Speakers said that bulk edible oil is distributed using drums that are manufactured with non-food-graded materials and are used for storing chemicals, lubricant/Mobil, or other products. Moreover, loose oil sold in unhealthy and unclean drums poses a serious threat to health. The repeated use of non-food grade plastic drums can lead to edible oil contamination. Bulk edible oil sold in drums has high chances of adulteration. Besides, these drums do not contain any label or required information about the source, which compromises the traceability of the oil supplier and makes it impossible to identify the perpetrators.

Although an executive order was issued to phase out bulk soybean oil sold in drums by July 2022 and bulk palm oil sold in drums by December 2022, this order is yet to be effectively implemented. The Ministry of Industries, BSTI, the Directorate of National Consumers’ Right Protection, Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA), and other relevant authorities have been urged to work together to ensure consumer access to safe edible oil.

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 disease, hypertension, diabetes, and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Fortification of edible oil with Vitamin ‘A’ and Vitamin ‘D’ can be a cost-effective approach in this regard as people will simultaneously get the vitamins ‘A’ and ‘D’ from their daily edible oil intake.

Fakir Muhammad Munawar Hossain, Director (Operation & Laboratory), Directorate of National Consumers’ Right Protection; Professor Dr. Sohel Reza Choudhury, Head of Epidemiology & Research Department, National Heart Foundation Hospital & Research Institute; Ashek Mahfuz, Portfolio Lead for Large Scale Food Fortification (LSFF) and Value Chain, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN); Mir Masrur Zaman, Senior News Editor, Channel i and ABM Zubair, Executive Director of PROGGA were present at the event as discussants. The key presentations were delivered by Abu Ahmed Shamim, Associate Scientist, James P Grant School of Public Health; Mustak Hassan Md. Iftekhar (former Additional Secretary), Consultant, Dr. Rina Rani Paul, Program Manager, Large Scale Food Fortification (LSFF) Country Advocacy Bangladesh, National Heart Foundation Hospital & Research Institute and Md Hasan Shahriar, Head of Programs, PROGGA.