Food hazard || Formalin contamination in fruits, vegetables and fish
Hello friends,
Hope you are well and preparing for a nice weekend.
However, my today topic of discussion is about Formalin contamination of foods. This is a major health concern for many countries.
What is Formalin?
Formalin is a 37% aqueous (water) solution of formaldehyde. The chemical name of Formalin is H-CHO. This is a volatile chemical. At around 40°C temperature this chemical evaporates. Formalin or formaldehyde is highly carcinogenic to human. People use this chemical as preservatives of dyes and different textiles chemicals. It is also used in production of plastics and coatings. Apart from textiles, there are various use and misuses of this chemical.
Why we have concern about this chemical?
The use of Formaldehyde/Formalin is banned in textiles industries as per European Union (EU) under REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and restriction of Chemical substances) legislation. For kids >16 PPM (parts per million) and for adults >75 PPM are not allowed in skin contact garments or textiles.
In many countries, the use of formalin in foods is a matter of concern. Formalin is not allowed to use in textile for certain limits whereas it is being used in food as a preservatives.
Why formalin is used in food items?
As mentioned above this chemical is mainly used as preservatives. Nevertheless, the businesspersons are using this weapon as unfair means. They are using formalin in different fishes, fruits and vegetables to keep those fresh as if they could keep in store for long time. This is very unethical.
What we are facing in our practical life?
Every day we are facing formalin related issue. Here, I am giving one practical example. I bought 2KG apple 10 days back. My wife gave me one apple to eat at office. I put that in my table drawer. Yesterday, I found this apple as fresh as the original one after cutting into small pieces. Here is the picture.
The food sector is fully contaminated with this hazardous chemical. From fish market to vegetables market, it is everywhere. Here are some pictures of vegetable.
Fruits are the most risky category under formalin contamination. We cook vegetables above 40°C temperature. There is a possibility of evaporation of formalin at this temperature. Nevertheless, for fruits it is worst case. As we are not boiling our fruits, there is high possibility of formalin contamination in it.
Here is a picture of oranges. All the oranges are looking fresh. However, it could be full of contamination.
The fish sellers sell the same fishes for two to three day. They mix formalin in water and spray that water in fish. It prevents fish from being rotten.
Effects of Formalin:
Formalin is carcinogenic by nature. It has various side effects to human health.
—The inhalation of formalin causes bronchitis.
—Swallowing of formalin can destroy you liver.
—Drinking formalin contaminated water can cause death.
—Formalin is responsible for skin cancer, if comes prolonged contact with skin.
What should we do?
We should wash fruits, vegetables and fish thoroughly with running water. It is recommended to wash with warm water. As formalin is volatile above 40°C, we need to cook food above that temperature. It will help to remove free formalin from the food items.
Last but not the least, we all should maintain ethical practice. We should not contaminate our foods with formalin which can cause death eventually.
Here all the pictures were captured using my iPhone 11 pro max mobile except the source mentioned one. Thanks for stopping by.
Wow!!
A difficult situation that you present in your post, but what to do?
We must eat and I read in your post that vegetables can evaporate the contaminant by boiling them, will it be that we will consume the fruits in compotes?
Thanks for sharing, @deepu7
Yes, boiling in a certain temperature can evaporate H-CHO. Thanks for stopping by.
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@porters here on behalf of @NaturalMedicine - Thanks for the heads up about the Formalin contamination! How sad it is that folks use these unethical practices putting money over peoples health!
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We have the same experience as you, so for a while we no longer buy apples.
My son had a bite of an apple, and unintentionally left it in our balcony. Two days after, my mom discovered it, still fresh even with the bite. Because it is biodegradable, she threw it in our garden so that it will rot and be a fertilizer. When we were at our garden a week later, that same apple is still fresh as ever!!! And that was a week long of exposure to rain and sun, imagine?!? We know that something was wrong but we just don't know what chemical have they used.
Thank you for this helpful information. We will be mindful of rinsing our fruits and vegetables with warm water.
Glad to know that the post was helpful. Thanks for stopping by.
Same issue we had here before. Involves fish and large squid. Rumored to have been sold on street stalls. People kill people slowly in such ways just for profit. I'm glad I don't hear anymore news about formalin for years now. We just opt to buy fresh live seafood during mornings.
Glad to know that you are getting H-CHO free fish.
I didn't know all that stuff you talk about in your post, it's really unfortunate that all this happens only because of the ambition of a few people who want to get rich this badly
Yes, it’s true. People are doing unethical business.
This is disturbing! I knew they put stuff on the fruits and veggies, but I never knew it was this stuff. I wonder if we buy all our fruits and veggies at a famer's market we could avoid this, or is it on those also?
Yes, if you can buy directly from farmers, it’s quite safe. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing this good information. One should always do some research on what they are putting into their body. It is always best to try to get local fruits, veggies and fish, in order to avoid the delay.. thus the preservatives. It's hard to do, but you give some good examples of what to avoid and what to think about.
Glad to know that you liked it. Thanks.
I would definitely not like to buy fish that is 2 to 3 days old!! I wonder if they also use this method to preserve food here in South Africa, I will need to find out, thanks for sharing!!
You are most welcome.