False scare over Formalin saw tonnes of fruits destroyed

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Shahed Shafiq
Published : 04:00, May 24, 2019 | Updated : 00:16, May 25, 2019

Though hundreds of tonnes of fruits like mangoes and lichis were destroyed in 2014 over suspicion that they were grown with the aid of harmful chemical, Formalin, people still look at fruits with an air of suspicion.
However, the safe food authority of Bangladesh says that the machine, which had been used for so long, is faulty and had been giving wrong readings.
This has also been supported by local agriculture scientists and chemists, though in the last ten years, several thousand tonnes of fruits were destroyed.
Scientists in the country are saying that it’s difficult to mix Formalin to fruits. They also added that if mixed, it does not stay long with the fruits.
Agro scientist and director of Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council, Dr Mohammad Monirul Islam, said: “Formalin is a soluble product which vaporises; even if this is mixed, it won’t stay long. Fruits, vegetables have very little protein and so, if Formalin is mixed, it won’t stay long.”
Apart from that, fruits have a natural dose of Formalin which is not harmful to health.
Ethopen is used in fruits to accelerate the ripening process and so, we ask buyers to refrain from buying mangoes, which come to the market before 25 May.
He also said that the Formalin testing kits were faulty and showed traces of Formalin in fruits fresh from the trees.
To ease misconception about Formalin in fruits and vegetables, the safe food authority has published a notice. It mentions that naturally, all fruits and vegetables have 3-60 miligram/kg Formalin, which is not harmful.
Chairman of the Bangladesh safe food authority, Mahfuzul Huq, said: “the natural level of Formalin in fruits and vegetables is acceptable; there’s no use adding Formalin to fruits because fruits do not have protein and Formalin cannot sustain without protein for long.”
Due to the Formalin scare, many people have developed an aversion to fruit eating, which has caused irreparable damage to national health, he added.

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