HEALTH WARNING-Beware of fish, fruit treated with formalin

 

Beware of fish, fruit treated with formalin By Dasun Edirisinghe  Consumers were yesterday warned to be careful when purchasing fruit and fish as unscrupulous traders were using formalin to preserve them. The warning was issued by the Toxicology and National Poison Information Centre (TNPIC) of the National Hospital. TNPIC Chief Dr. Waruna Gunathilake told The Island that with the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) had launched raids to nab traders who use formalin to preserve fish. He said that most consumers now call the centre and ask how they could identify fish which had been treated with formalin. "According to our investigations, not only fish but also fruit traders use formalin, especially on mangoes to preserve them and get a shine on the fruit," Gunathilake said. He said that formalin was made by dissolving formaldehyde gas in water and it was a colourless and strong smelling liquid. Formalin is a chemical used in the textile, plastic, paper and construction industry and for embalming corpses. Dr. Gunathilake said that once formalin was used on food it cannot be removed by washing or even cooking. "Formalin could cause cancers, severe pain in mouth, giddiness, ulcers, inflammation, irritation in the mouth and throat and vomiting," he said adding that a separate study also proved that formalin led to liver and lung problems too. Formalin causes fishto have hard and rough scales, red gills, clean and shiny eyes and takes away the fishy smell thereby keeping away flies. When used on dry salty fish, the fish gets white, hard and odourless, Dr. Gunathilake said. The physician said that fruits would have a shiny surface treated with formalin. "We asked people to avoid eating fish and fruits treated with formalin to prevent your body being exposed to formalin," Dr. Gunathilake added. Internal Trade and Co-operatives Minister Jhonston Fernando told The Island last week that he had received many complaints and samples of fish that had already been collected from markets and fish stalls islandwide. These had been sent to the Government Analyst's Department for testing. He said stern action would be taken against errant traders.

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