Applying formalin to food is committing ‘genocide’, says President Hamid

President Md Abdul Hamid has called for building a social movement against unscrupulous traders and described the malpractice of using formalin to preserve food for a long time as “genocide”.

The ex-officio chancellor of all universities in Bangladesh made the comments in his address to the third convocation of the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Sylhet on Wednesday.

“Formalin is a kind of poison. Now it is applied to all foods in the country – not only to fruits, but it is also used in vegetables, fish, and meat. Even in powdered spice!” he remarked.

Noting that the maximum punishment set by the law for murdering someone is death, the president said, “But applying formalin to food is causing deaths to thousands of people. It’s genocide. We must build a social movement against it.”

“We had not heard about so many cancer patients 20 to 25 years ago. But the country is full of cancer patients now,” he said, referring to a possible outcome of formalin consumption by the masses.

Rogue businesses were using formalin on food to get rich overnight, he said.

He urged the teachers and students to come forward to raise awareness among the people about the issue.