Pure Food Court has issued arrest warrants against senior officials of Nestlé Bangladesh, Meghna Sugar Refinery Limited and SA Group after test results allegedly found their products far below national standards set by the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI).
Special Metropolitan Magistrate Nusrat Sahara Bithi issued the warrants on Monday in three separate cases filed by Dhaka South City Corporation Food Inspector Kamrul Hasan under the Safe Food Act 2013.
Nestlé and Meghna cases were filed on the same day, while the SA Group case was filed earlier.
The accused include Nestlé Bangladesh Managing Director Dipal Abe Bikrama, Nestlé Bangladesh Public Policy Manager Riasad Zaman, Meghna Sugar Refinery Founder Mostofa Kamal and SA Group Chairman Md Shahabuddin Alam.
Nestlé: ‘KitKat fails quality parameters’
According to the first case, Nestlé imported KitKat chocolate-coated wafers from Dubai and placed them on the Bangladesh market without obtaining mandatory BSTI certification.
A DSCC team collected samples from Shwapno’s Basabo outlet on 10 January 2025 and sent them to the Public Health Food Testing Laboratory.
The chocolate coating contained 9.31% milk solids against the required 12 to 14% and 1.23% milk fat against the standard 2.5 to 3.5%.
The wafer portion showed 2.32% acidity, exceeding the BSTI maximum limit of 1%, while the permanent soluble acid value was also below standard.
The food inspector told TIMES of Bangladesh that such low milk solids and milk fat indicate insufficient dairy content in a product marketed as chocolate.
Only the Indian-made KitKat sample tested within acceptable limits.
Nestlé disputed the allegations and said no BSTI standard exists for products like KitKat and that the tests were conducted in a non-accredited laboratory.
The company said customs cleared the consignment based on a BCSIR fitness report, although the inspector clarified that BCSIR does not issue marketing clearance.
Subsequent inspections at multiple outlets found inconsistent packaging, with some packets carrying BSTI logos and others missing them, raising questions about authenticity.
The inspector said the supplier did not cooperate despite repeated requests for documents and added that a similar case had been filed about one to one and a half months earlier in Moulvibazar involving other Nestlé products.
Meghna: ‘Sucrose far below standard, sulphur dioxide detected”
In the second case, a sugar sample from Meghna Sugar Refinery Limited reportedly contained 77.35% sucrose against the BSTI minimum requirement of 99.70%.
The sample also showed 0.08 ppm sulphur dioxide, though BSTI requires zero presence, while ash content stood at 0.404% against the standard 0.5%.
Inspector Kamrul Hasan said the low sucrose level suggests the use of artificial sweeteners and the sulphur dioxide indicates prohibited whitening processes.
Meghna Group Senior General Manager Mujibur Rahman told TIMES that the company has been selling sugar since 2002 without any complaint of illness and that all products are released only after BSTI approval.
He described the allegations as baseless and claimed that the case is part of a conspiracy against major corporations.
SA Group: Goalini milk powder ‘lacks protein and cream’
The third case alleges that Goalini Full Cream Milk Powder from SA Group contained far below-standard protein and milk fat levels.
BSTI requires 34% protein, while tests reportedly found 9.5%, and the milk fat standard is 42%, while only 7.58% was detected.
SA Group Brand and Coordination Officer Sanaullah Riyadh told TIMES they were not aware of the cases before the media reports and claimed the allegations were baseless.
