Journalism and Global

economy
Naimul Karim

Journalism and Global

Economy
The Pran case-study
http://archive.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/test-at
-govt-lab-too-detects-lead
/
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found as
high as 53 ppm of lead in the turmeric powder
on Pran exports.
The Bangladesh Council of Scientific and
Industrial Research (BCSIR) detected lead 40 to
55 ppm.
Limit: Bangladesh Standards and Testing
Institutions. 2.5 ppm

Journalism and Global

Economy
Too much [of it] can cause health problems,
including delayed mental and physical
development and learning deficiencies.
Following the FDA detection, four stores in New
York, Dallas and Detroit recalled the turmeric
powder.
Shawpno returned the products locally
Pran withdraws product
http://archive.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/pran-fina
lly-withdraws-product
Pran asked to explain themselves
http://archive.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/bsti-asks
-pran-to-explain-lead-contamination/

Journalism and the Global Economy

Investigative report: The brighter the
riskier.
http://www.thedailystar.net/brighter-r
iskier-14586
The difference between fruit and
drink
http://archive.thedailystar.net/newD
esign/cache/cached-news-details-2542
98.html
Minimum ten per cent fruit pulp

Journalism and Global

Economy
Food adulteration
http://
www.thedailystar.net/hardly-anything
-safe-to-eat-40759Part 1
Over 10 thousand samples of more
than 50 different food items were
tested at the Institute of Public
Health in 2012-13. About 60 percent
of the samples were found

Journalism and Global

Economy
The number of cancer patients in
Bangladesh could increase to nearly 5
lakh in 2035 from 2,32,868 in 2012.
At present, about 6,00,000 children
suffer from acute malnutrition, 41
percent under-five children from
stunted growth, while 70 percent of
children are anaemic, and one in three
is subclinical iodine deficient

Journalism and Global

Economy
Part-1 What should we eat?
Part-2:
http://www.thedailystar.net/profit-more-profit-410
15
Wholesalers are to blame
Inadequate preserving facilities
Unauthorised factories in meat-bone business
Part 3:
http://www.thedailystar.net/pesticides-used-15-ti
mes-the-limit-41205
A new study finds that almost one-third of the
pesticides used in farming vegetables and fruits in
the country are substandard.

Journalism and Global

Economy
Forcing farmers to apply excessive pesticide that raises
the production cost, cause grave health hazards to
consumers in the long run.
Strengthening resistance in the insects, which
means standard doses cannot kill them in many
cases.
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI)
collected 32 pesticide samples of different brands.
it found 30 percent of the pesticides contained
active or key ingredients of half the prescribed
quantity.

Journalism and Global

Economy
Farmers now have to use pesticides 10-15
times the prescribed amount for producing
fruits and 8-10 times for growing vegetables.
If a farmer needed Tk 50 for pesticides earlier,
he now needs Tk 500 for the same. And the
additional cost is passed on to the consumers.
There are nearly 400 companies, which import
and market about 37,000 tonnes of pesticides
annually, but only some 200 are members of
the BCPA (Bangladesh Crop Protection
Association).

Journalism and Global

Economy
Old formalin in new bottle
http://www.thedailystar.net/old-formalin-in-new-bottle-41348
Taking advantage of loopholes in the existing law, a section of
traders is importing chemicals like paraformaldehyde that can
be used as a substitute for formalin.
Only formalin's name was mentioned in the amendment that
banned the product leaving out the other harmful chemicals
similar to it.
Cashing in on this, traders imported 10,397 tonnes of
paraformaldehyde in fiscal 2012-13, according to the National
Board of Revenue.
At least 7,833 tonnes of paraformaldehyde were imported in
2011-12 while the amount was 7,268 tonnes in 2010-11, as
shown in NBR data.

Journalism and Global

Economy
Only 19 kilograms of formalin was
imported in the last five and a half
months
Last year, 10,923.45 kg formalin was
imported, while the figure was 1.28
lakh kg in 2012 and 1.64 lakh kg in
2011, according to Chittagong
Customs House.
Identified 25 types of chemicals that
can easily be transformed into

Journalism and Global

Economy
Laws are plenty but none are applied
http://www.thedailystar.net/toomany-cooks-spoil-the-broth-41714
Many of the government officials
working on food safety are corrupt
Food monitoring system. Cold
Storage
http://www.thedailystar.net/cold-cha
in-can-save-food-supply-chain-41858

Journalism and Global

Economy
Assignment: Write an essay on the
stock market and the food
adulteration stories. Express your
opinion. What do you think makes
the story interesting? What can make
it better? What are the angles of the
story?
Go through the papers in the last one
year and find out a similar series of
story that you think is interesting.