These last days, people complain that there is a kind of sugar which may cause harmful effects to human beings. Burundi Bureau of Standards and Quality Control (BBN) has taken measures to control and fight against it.-Diane Uwimana
Jean De Dieu Gashamura: “BBN can’t achieve any positive step if people do not want to collaborate very closely” ©Iwacu
The so-called sugar is used for preparing doughnuts, bread and other products from wheat flour. This kind of sugar entered the country fraudulently. It is mostly used for doughnuts and bread in order to have bigger and more delicious pieces. Many people said that those who used it may cause some dangerous effects to any human being. Burundian Bureau of Standards and Quality Control has four departments: standardization and metrology, research and reinforcement capacity, certification and laboratory and standards training.
Among the BBN’s duties, they always proceed to an analysis of food and agricultural products such as salt, flour, milk, oil, juice and other goods which enter the country.
Gervais Nzinahora, in charge of Communication of the Product Quality in BBN indicates that achieving all these activities, BBN will elaborate some laws to take in consideration. Jean De Dieu Gashamura, BBN Technical Director points out that the institution controls any good imported in the country and thereafter look for other well-equipped institutions to give a hand in order to ensure whether or not the good has a bad impact on human beings. He goes on saying that there are measures taken by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Posts and Tourism to punish those who don’t comply with the laws. One of the measures is that to today they are alerting people through written correspondences and ordering them to stop that business if it doesn’t comply with the law.
“BBN is aware of the hazardous sugar”
Last week, BBN addressed a communiqué to people about the hazardous sugar. In that message, BBN talked about a kind of sugar used in preparing doughnuts and bread which is similar to real sugar made of sugar cane. According to the analysis made by BBN in the laboratory, the result reveals that there is product similar to sugar with a white colour used by people and brings nothing nutritive to human beings like the sugar made of sugar cane.
The same result shows that the so-called sugar contains beef and pork gelatine used for preparing some food. BBN Technical Director States that BBN has alerted those who prepared doughnuts and bread that if this gelatine is not manufactured well it may cause some harmful effects.
Gashamura reminds that BBN has already sent its agents in different shops and bakeries to look if they do not use this sugar instead of the sugar from Moso Sugar Company (SOSUMO). “We have also recommended our agents who work at borders to be very careful and check any entrance of goods to avoid that sugar smuggling,” highlights Gashamura. However, he continues, BBN can’t achieve any positive step if people do not want to collaborate very closely.
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