First-ever food lab expo in Dhaka today

Food and Chemical Lab Expo 2022, the very first event of its kind, is to be held today at the capital's Bangabandhu International National Convention Centre.

Thirty-nine public and private laboratories and six machineries-supplying entities will take part in the day long expo, Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) and the United States Department of Agriculture-funded Bangladesh Trade Facilitation (BTF) announced at a press conference at the Capital Market Journalist Forum office yesterday.

The open-for-all expo will start at 10am and will continue till 6pm.

The event aims to highlight the strong capacity of the network of the country's food and chemical laboratories, build public trust in them and ensure safe food for all.

BFSA Chairman Md Abdul Kayowm, said as part of its collaboration with the Bangladesh Trade Facilitation Project, the day-long expo is targeting to create an effective network between public and private sector laboratories so they can be more actively engaged in food safety management for the local consumers as well as can contribute to export.

"The expo will be a platform to share knowledge and experiences about technologies, best practices, and international standards in food safety issues," he said.

"Exports of food products stand at $1 billion. To increase this export, our food products should be properly tested in the lab. The supply chain from the field to the consumer needs to be improved," he added.

Bangladesh Trade Facilitation Project Director Michael J Parr highlighted that the BTF is supporting the laboratories to develop their capacities to strengthen their roles and contribution in cross-border trade of agro-trade products.

"The laboratories in the country, despite having immense potential, are underutilised due to the lack of knowledge and access to information on the capacities and services they provide," he said.

"The expo will attempt to improve awareness of the services provided by different public and private laboratories. Building trust in private laboratories is another objective that the expo is trying to achieve," he added.

A parallel Scientific Session on Ensuring Food Safety, Promoting Trade: The Role of Accredited Laboratories will be organised during the expo where international experts and academia will speak on laboratories' contribution to food safety management, opportunities for commercial laboratories in food safety and trade, and international standards and best practices for food safety management.

BFSA Chairman Abdul Kayowm said, "Potatoes produced in the country contain harmful bacteria. Due to this, there is a hindrance in the export of potatoes."

In response to a question, he clarified that as we are eating boiled potatoes, the germs do not harm us.  

According to Bangladesh Cold Storage Association data, the production of potatoes in 2021 was 1.10 crore tonnes against the country's demand of 85-90 lakh tonnes.

Md Rejaul Karim, member (Food Consumption and Consumer Right), Quamrun Nahar, technical advisor USDI Bangladesh Trade Facilitation Project attended the programme.