Arrest warrants were issued on Tuesday by a Dhaka Pure Food Court for the unlawful production, marketing, and sale of electrolyte drinks against the top executives and staff of five companies: ACME Agrovet and Beverages Ltd., Pran Dairy Ltd., Akij Food and Beverage Limited, and others.
According to DSCC food safety inspector Kamrul Hasan, who filed a case against the five companies that day, the court’s judge, Alaul Akbar, issued the arrest order in response to a case.
The next sessions in the case are scheduled for June 5 and June 9, according to complainant Kamrul Hasan.
Arrest warrants have been issued for the following officials: Golam Mostafa, chairman of Deshbandhu Food and Beverage Ltd., which makes Recharge Orange Revive Electrolyte Drink; Waliul Islam, owner of SMC Enterprise Ltd., which is in charge of marketing the ACME drinks; and Tanveer Sinha, owner of ACME Agrovet and Beverages Ltd., which makes SMC Plus orange and lemon-flavored electrolyte drinks.
The others named on the arrest warrants are: Md. Touhidul Islam, factory manager of Brüvana Beverage Limited, which makes mango-flavored Bruvana Sports+ Electrolyte Beverage; Sheikh Shamim Uddin, chairman of Akij Food and Beverage Limited, which makes Turbo Electrolyte Sports Drink; and Ahsan Khan Chowdhury, chairman and CEO of Pran Dairy Ltd., which makes orange and lemon-flavored Aktive+ Electrolyte Drink.
The lawsuit claims that the five businesses are creating, promoting, and retailing electrolyte drinks by disseminating misleading information about them through YouTube videos and social media posts.
The accusations further state that the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution and the Directorate General of Drug Administration have not approved the electrolyte drinks that are being sold.
Further, according to DSCC food safety inspector Kamrul, the product advertisements misrepresent the beverages’ various health advantages, such as their ability to treat dehydration and regulate low blood pressure.
According to the inspector, these advertisements also suggested that these beverages may be used in place of oral saline, which is endorsed by UNICEF and the World Health Organization.
He claimed that after sending samples of the products to the BSTI and the Directorate General of Drug Administration to inquire about their authorization status, he discovered that neither organization had given any approval for any of the medicines.
He continued, “The products’ labels contain information on a number of diseases in blatant disregard of the Packaged Food Labelling Regulations, 2017 and the Food Safety Act, 2013.”
When questioned, Maidul Islam, chief marketing officer of Akij Food and Beverage Limited, asserted that while the drink does not fit within the category of BSTI-listed mandatory products, approval from the BSTI is necessary for those products.
He added that although he was informed that the company had been summoned to court, he had not received any court documents and that he had applied for and was now awaiting a no objection certificate from the BSTI two months prior.