The fish you buy may have formalin

CEBU CITY — Beware of the fish you buy. They may be laced with cancer-causing formalin.

Elpedio de la Victoria, project director of the Bantay Dagat Commission, told The Freeman that fish dealers are using formalin to extend the shelf life of fishes sold in Metro Cebu markets.

Formalin is a strong solution of formaldehyde in water form used as disinfectant and for embalming.

De la Victoria, president of the National Association of Fish Wardens in the Philippines, said fish wardens from Zamboanga City informed him recently that fishes shipped to Cebu from that southwestern Mindanao port were laced with the toxic substance.

Acting Vice Mayor Gabriel Leyson, chairman of the city council’s committee on markets and abattoir, promised to look into the matter.

Leyson vowed to propose an ordinance imposing sanctions against the use of formalin as food preservative.

Dr. Alfredo Galaroza, chief of the city’s office of veterinary medicine and fisheries, however, said they have yet to find fish samples with formalin.

Galaroza’s team gathers a sampling of fish sold in city markets for testing every week.

Health officials earlier warned that formalin can cause cancer, thus, it not advisable to use it as food preservative.

Lusviminda Bato of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said it is easy to detect whether a fish or other marine products are laced with formalin.

"Ang baho mora’g morgue (It smells like morgue)," she said.

People who ingest food laced with formalin may experience eye, nose and throat irritation, coughing, skin rashes, headaches, dizziness, nausea, vomiting and nosebleeds.

De la Victoria said fishes have their own natural formalin in their bodies, but "it is not more than 10 parts per million." — Freeman News Service