FAO expert tells Bangladesh formalin in food is not a health hazard

A FAO international food analysis expert has advised Bangladesh not to pay much attention to formalin as he finds this naturally occurring organic compound “not a food hazard”.

Sridhar Dharmapuri, at a scientific conference in Dhaka on Sunday, said instead, Bangladesh must keep eyes on the use of pesticides and metals in food as they were ‘hazardous’ to human health.

His comment came on the heel of the government’s anti-formalin drive in which police destroyed tonnes of mangoes last year by using a much-debated ‘formalin detection device’.

He said actions must be taken based on “scientific evidence and not on perceptions” as he found that the anti-formalin drive came after media reports, and it caused economic losses.

Dharmapuri said the instrument they used was “faulty” as it was for measuring formalin in atmosphere, though he found it even irrelevant to detect formalin in vegetables or fruits.

“There is no limit of formalin in food in any country as it is difficult to measure. Real evidences from scientific analysis found that formalin is added naturally in different quantities in various foods and vegetables.”

“When something is naturally present, trying to measure it using a faulty instrument is only compounding the problem,” he said.

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Dharmapuri was one of the key scientists in the establishment of the National Food Safety Laboratory in Dhaka with the support of UN agency FAO.

Professor of Medicine at Stanford University Stephen Luby, and Chief Technical Adviser of the FAO Food Safety Programme John Ryder were the co-chairs of the panel when he spoke on “risk perception” in the ongoing ‘One Health Conference.’

He said in case of fish, even if formalin was used it was neutralised in the cooking process.

“You wash them many times before cooking. Then you cook, you boil, so most of the time formalin goes away,” he said.

“Formalin is basically an industrial hazard. It does not cause any health hazard from being used in food items. Up to 100 PPM per day can safely be consumed, according to European food safety authority,” he said.

“It is only dangerous when in a furniture or painting factory one gets exposed to huge amount of formalin gas,” he explained.

Food safety is a huge concern in Bangladesh since there is no proper supervision on food adulterations.

But Dharmapuri cautioned against any decision taken based on perceptions and not real scientific data.

“This (anti-formalin drive) is an example where perception of risk from a substance reached such an extent that food were being destroyed on the basis of a faulty test carried out to detect a compound which itself was not a major issue at that time,” he said.

“Reports that we normally read could be unreliable. Only scientific analysis can establish a fact,” he said, giving examples of some reports.

He said after the hue and cry last year, they, too, tested samples in National Food Safety Laboratory for formalin using three methods, including the faulty machine that police used.

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The FAO-backed lab itself developed a method and borrowed a kit from another organisation.

He said all three showed different quantities of formalin in the tested food.

“In one case it says positive even though we didn’t detect anything. In some cases we found negative result despite detecting it.”

“So it means it’s difficult to measure such compound. So we really should not waste our time and resources or worry about those substances.

“We should pay attention to those areas where it is required like the use of metals and pesticides in food,” he said.

The food analyst said they found the level of lead in turmeric even 20 times higher than the permissible level.

“This is a deliberate act. The argument that it comes from environment pollutants does not hold much water here,” he said.

“It (lead) is added to enhance the colour to make it more yellow and more attractive.”

He also called for educating farmers on the use of pesticides to ensure its proper use for agriculture.

The scientist, however, suggested getting the evidence of formalin added to food items since it is “illegal”.

“If somebody sprays formalin in water, the water has to be caught. The evidence of formalin does not come from the fruit. It comes from the way it added,” he said.