WFP cancels contract with Globe Biscuit

The WFP has taken this decision after some schools in Kurigram reported cases of inferior quality biscuits.

"We detected the problem and have cancelled contract with the factory for supplying biscuits of inferior quality," said WFP Deputy Country Director Edward Kallon at a press briefing yesterday.

The company has also been blacklisted from any future engagement with the WFP.

The WFP has been distributing nutrient-fortified biscuits among the primary school children under its Nutrition for Education (School Feeding) Programme covering 7.28 lakh children in the highly food insecure areas of Bangladesh.

The UN agency has suspended distribution of Globe biscuit and withdrawn samples from the schools following complaints of low quality biscuits with bitter taste and foreign particles.

A quality control unit headed by a food technologist and an independent superintending agency has been entrusted to ensure quality of biscuits for the WFP, said the officials.

WFP officials Edith Heines, Buhre Gessesse and Md Abdul Quddus were present at the press conference.