Nestlé, Meghna, SA Group chiefs face arrest warrants in food safety cases

Staff Reporter :

Arrest warrants issued against the top executives of Nestlé Bangladesh, Meghna Group of Industries, and SA Group have triggered fresh scrutiny of corporate responsibility and regulatory enforcement in the country’s food sector.

The orders, issued on Monday (24 November) by Nusrat Sahara Bithi, magistrate of the Safe Food Court, mark one of the most high-profile crackdowns in recent years amid growing concerns over the prevalence of unsafe and adulterated food items in the market.

The warrants were issued for Nestlé Bangladesh’s managing director, Deepal Abeywickrema, and Public Policy Manager, Riashad Jaman; Meghna Group Chairman Mostafa Kamal; and SA Group Chairman Md Shahabuddin Alam. The cases stem from allegations involving adulterated sugar, low-quality chocolate, and substandard milk powder — products from brands that dominate the shelves of urban retailers. The action came after applications filed by Kamrul Hasan, a safe food inspector at Dhaka South City Corporation, who said laboratory tests confirmed serious quality breaches in the products supplied by the three companies. The Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) has also confirmed the lawsuits and arrest orders. The next hearing is scheduled for 15 December.

Companies Push Back, Claim Harassment and Lack of Standards.
The accused companies have rejected the allegations, describing them as baseless, misleading, or procedurally flawed.

Nestlé Bangladesh said the warrant amounted to “outright harassment,” arguing that KitKat chocolates imported from Dubai and India meet existing regulatory requirements.
“The BSTI has not established specific standards for testing KitKat,” said Debabrata Roy Chowdhury, director of corporate affairs at Nestlé Bangladesh. “We comply with permissible limits under the Safe Food Act. The complainant misled the court to secure this decision.”
Meghna Group, one of the country’s largest conglomerates, claimed it was not informed of the case at all.

“These allegations are entirely false,” said Kazi Md Mohiuddin, senior general manager at Meghna Group of Industries. “We know nothing about it.”
SA Group did not issue an immediate public statement, but the complaint accuses its “full cream” milk powder of severe mislabeling.

What Inspectors Found: Sugar Too Weak, Chocolate Substandard, Milk Powder Mislabelled
Safe food inspector Kamrul Hasan said the products in question were sampled during routine inspection drives, then sent to authorised laboratories for chemical and quality testing.
During the checks, Meghna Group’s Fresh Refined Sugar was found to be adulterated and unsafe, containing only 77.35% sucrose — far below the required 99.7%. Moisture content was 2.70%, while the standard minimum is 8%. Sulphur dioxide, which should be absent, was detected at harmful levels.

Nestlé’s KitKat samples collected from a Shwapno outlet on 10 November reportedly failed quality benchmarks, leading investigators to conclude the chocolates were adulterated and of low quality. The company imported them without BSTI approval, the complaint alleges, violating consumer protection rules.

SA Group’s Goalini Full Cream Milk Powder contained almost none of the cream it advertised. Protein content was 9.5%, far below the required 34%, and milk fat was only 7.58% — despite the standard requirement of 42% or above.

“These are serious violations,” Kamrul Hasan said. “Consumers trust these brands. But our tests found adulteration, mislabeling, and unsafe ingredients. The court issued the order accordingly.”
Food Authority Says Regular Monitoring Reveals Widespread Issues
BFSA Chairman Zakaria said the authority conducts monthly surveillance involving around 150 samples from supermarkets, wholesalers, and production points.

“We routinely find products that do not meet standards,” he said. “Sometimes chips contain too much salt. Preservatives exceed limits. In other cases, ingredient lists do not match what is actually in the food.”

He said companies are usually warned first and monitored over three to six months. “If they fail to correct the problems, legal action follows, as seen in these cases.”

A Larger Problem: Trust in Packaged Foods Erodes
The case has renewed public debate over the reliability of packaged food items — many of them marketed by multinational and domestic giants whose branding often implies superior safety standards. Consumer rights groups say the issue goes beyond isolated lapses and points to systemic weaknesses in supply chains, regulatory loopholes, and uneven enforcement.

This is the second case in which Nestlé Bangladesh faces allegations over KitKat quality this year, amplifying concerns about multinational compliance.

As the court prepares for the next hearing on 15 December, industry watchers say the cases could set a precedent for stricter accountability in Bangladesh’s food sector — or, as the accused companies warn, widen the scope for what they call procedural misuse and regulatory overreach.
For now, the legal battle has opened a rare window into the murky intersection between powerful corporate interests and a market where food safety remains one of the most pressing public health concerns.