HC asks BSTI to test milk within a week agian

Health Desk-15 July, 2019: The High Court on Sunday ordered the Bangladesh Standards Testing Institute (BSTI) to test the pasteurised milk produced by all the 14 registered companies at four recommended laboratories within a week.

A division bench comprising Justice Syed Reffat Ahmed and Justice Md Iqbal Kabir Lytton passed this order while hearing a writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Advocate Tanveer Ahmed.

Incidentally, the HC order came a day after Dhaka University researchers claimed to have found again antibiotics in ten milk samples. The researchers echoed the view of its earlier report.

The HC recommended laboratories, where the test are to be conducted, are: The Institute of Public Health, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Feed and Food Safety Laboratory under the Institute of Bangladesh Livestock and Research and Bangladesh Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

As per the HC order, BSTI will have to collect samples of pasteurised milk of the companies from the market in presence of representatives of four laboratories.

The laboratories are asked to test the milk to determine whether there is health hazardous substance like total bacterial count, coliform, staphylococcus, acidity, formalin, detergent and antibiotic in the pasteurised milk.

The HC directed the BSTI to submit its action plan to develop capacity for detecting detergent and antibiotics in the pasteurised milk. The action plans are to be submitted within seven days

The court also wanted to know what steps BSTI has taken following two test reports on milk released by Dhaka University researchers.

The High Court will issue further order on the matter on July 23.