Photo : Collected

DHAKA, Oct 29, 2025 (BSS) – Speakers at a workshop here today called for ensuring availability of vitamin-fortified safe edible oil.

They said it is crucial to stop the sale of oil in open drums and make quality packaging mandatory to ensure access to vitamin-fortified safe edible oil.
 
They also said selling edible oil in open drums violates government directives and poses major risks to public health. 
Speakers made these remarks today at a workshop titled “Safe Vitamin Fortified Edible Oil for All: Progress, Challenges, and Way Forward,” held at BMA Bhaban in the capital, said a press release.

The workshop was jointly organised by the research and advocacy organization, PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) and the National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh, with the participation of 28 journalists representing print, television, and online media.

Speakers informed that despite the law mandates fortification of edible oil with vitamin A, but in reality, oil in the market often contains either insufficient or no vitamins at all. 

The speakers called for a coordinated effort among relevant authorities, including the Ministry of Industries, BSTI, Directorate of National Consumers’ Right Protection, and the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority, to ensure the availability of safe, vitamin-enriched edible oil in the market.

The workshop also emphasized that fortifying edible oil with both vitamin A and D could be an effective, affordable, and sustainable public health intervention. 

The speakers also stated that exposure to sunlight and excessive light can destroy vitamins, advocating that oil be stored in light-resistant, opaque bottles. 

Highlighting the necessity for quality packaging of edible oil, they added that vitamin A deficiency raises the risk of childhood blindness and maternal mortality, while lack of vitamin D can cause rickets, osteoporosis, and several non-communicable diseases such as heart disease.

Fakir Muhammad Munawar Hossain, Director (Deputy Secretary), Operations and Laboratories Department, Directorate of National Consumers' Right Protection (DNCRP); Mustak Hassan Md. Iftekhar, Consultant, National Heart Foundation Hospital & Research Institute; Md. Shafiqul Islam, Business In-charge, Bangla Tribune and ABM Zubair, Executive Director of PROGGA were present as discussants. 

The key presentations were delivered by Dr. Aliva Haque, Program Officer of National Heart Foundation Hospital & Research Institute and Md. Hasan Shahriar, Head of Programs, PROGGA.