Food Minister Afroza Khanam on Tuesday called for stronger public awareness and greater food-testing capacity to ensure safe food in the country.

“Ensuring safe food is not the sole responsibility of the government. All concerned must work together in a coordinated manner,” she said at an exchange meeting with Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) officials and employees in Dhaka.

Khanam said the health of future generations largely depends on the food they consume, stressing greater awareness among consumers, particularly parents about children’s dietary habits.

She called for accurate information on packaged foods and beverages and stronger monitoring of food quality and safety.

The minister said the existing mobile laboratories in the country’s eight divisions were inadequate and called for establishing mobile labs gradually in all 64 districts to enable on-the-spot preliminary testing.

She also stressed constructing a dedicated BFSA laboratory building, saying it would reduce government expenditure in the long term and provide modern food-testing facilities.

Khanam called for increased testing capacity and modern technology to ensure faster and more reliable results.

Regarding demands raised by BFSA officials and employees, she said these were reasonable and assured them of steps to address the issues gradually in consultation with the relevant authorities.

“I want to see you not as a minister but as colleagues. We will work together,” she said.

She also urged officials who had received overseas training and higher education to use their knowledge and experience for public welfare.

The food secretary said BFSA should make the best use of its existing capacity to ensure food safety while steps were taken to resolve its problems.

BFSA Secretary Srabasti Roy, Chairman Md Shafiqul Islam and other officials also spoke at the meeting.

Earlier, Khanam inspected the BFSA’s mini-lab and laboratory and was briefed on food-sample testing.