Health ministry warns of increasing use of formalin by vendors at fresh markets

BANGKOK: -- The Public Health Ministry has warned consumers to be aware of buying fresh food and vegetable at fresh markets as now use of formalin among vendors is increasing and could be hazardous to their health.

Vendors are found to use formalin to keep their merchandise fresh.

The ministry’s permanent secretary Dr Narong Sahametapat said formalin poses serious harm to both consumers and vendors due to severe side effects associated with the chemical.

He said formalin is a solution containing 40% formaldehyde.

Health officials found the use of the corpse-preserving substance at five fresh and weekly markets in Nakhon Sawan late last month.

According to him the Department of Health officials collected 275 food samples from two fresh markets and three weekly markets in Nakhon Sawan Muang district, Thatako and Chum Saeng districts.

They found that 102 samples or 37% contained formalin. At major fresh markets, formalin was found in as many as 59% of collected samples.

They said foods that were found to be contaminated included squid, shrimp, chopped ginger, chopped finger root, straw mushrooms, grey oyster mushrooms, black mushrooms, long beans and oak-leaf ferns.

The permanent secretary said he has ordered health officials to locate the sources of formalin use and take action against these vendors.

Formalin was prohibited from use on food. Its use posed dangers to both consumers and vendors because the substance was lethal and carcinogenic.

At the same time, director-general of the Department of Health Dr Porntep Siriwanarangsun said the detection of formalin use by food vendors showed that they are turning from sodium hydrosulfite to formalin to preserve fresh food.

Formalin is a clear liquid and its vapor could harm almost all systems of the human body. Its acidic properties destroy cells. Vendors exposed to low levels of formalin vapor will suffer eye and respiratory irritation. Those heavily exposed to formalin risk serious breathing difficulties, lung inflammation, pulmonary congestion and even death.

The tests focus on six hazardous substances known for use on fresh food, namely borax, sodium hydrosulfite, pesticides, salicylic acid, formalin and salbutamol.

He said consumers of food with high formalin content will experience severe headache, chest pains and stomachache, vomiting and diarrhea.

But he advised that consumers could test vegetables for formalin by smelling their leaves or breaking their stems and smelling them.

If they have a strong smell and cause irritation, they should not buy them.

Meat with a strong smell should not be bought either,” he said adding that consumers can remove formalin from vegetables by rinsing them for 5-10 minutes under running water or placing them for one hour in still water.

Health officials are testing samples of foods nationwide to check for hazardous contamination. Cancer continues to be the most common cause of death among Thai people and consumption of hazardous foods is one cause.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/health-ministry-warns-increasing-use-formalin-vendors-fresh-markets/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=health-ministry-warns-increasing-use-formalin-vendors-fresh-markets

-- Thai PBS 2014-02-24

Oh God, what a nasty thing to do for the sake of profits. Best precaution would be to wash the vegetables and meat thoroughly as advised, if purchased at the fresh markets, as the sniffing test may not be conclusive if there are smaller amounts used.

One way or another this country seems out to kill you. Of course; they are out to kill themselves as well !

The mantra is greed!

Phewwww! What a relief!

The way the news is going, I thought there was going to be Cholera bacteria put there by the silly red shirts!

Oh God, what a nasty thing to do for the sake of profits. Best precaution would be to wash the vegetables and meat thoroughly as advised, if purchased at the fresh markets, as the sniffing test may not be conclusive if there are smaller amounts used.

Best thing is to eat in Singapore

What a lovely bunch of people......knowingly poisoning their customers.

Absolute vile creatures these people are.....just gets worse and worse by the day.

Anyone have a link to this in the Thai news...would love the missus to read it.

Mind you, might explain some of the old corpses still wandering about Pattaya and such.

this is beyond comprehension, the vendors also are at risk, are they really that stupid or just misinformed by the suppliers of this chemical

Anyone have a link to this in the Thai news...would love the missus to read it.

Mind you, might explain some of the old corpses still wandering about Pattaya and such.

Your wife almost certainly knows this as the story surfaces regularly on tv and in the press for years.

Wifey has been soaking all of our veg before cooking ever since I met her 13 years ago.

Sad to say this crap has been going on for years.

Did the Public Health Ministry also say that formalin is in vaccines?

Oh God, what a nasty thing to do for the sake of profits. Best precaution would be to wash the vegetables and meat thoroughly as advised, if purchased at the fresh markets, as the sniffing test may not be conclusive if there are smaller amounts used.

I saw spraying the meat with insect spray.....same thing other substance

lets just hope that the b******d vendors that poison the food die first som nam na

All vegetables will kill you in this country. Just stick to a 100% meat-based diet and you'll be all right! Didn't eat a single fruit or vegetable in over 10 years and I'm as fit as a butcher's dog!

Strange them showing vegetables as a picture but then the things containing that poison are mainly not vegetables but squid, shrimp, chopped ginger, chopped finger root, straw mushrooms, grey oyster mushrooms, black mushrooms, long beans and oak-leaf ferns. (ok some vegetables but mainly mushrooms and seafood.

how long has this really been going on?

The mention of salbutamol as a hazardous substance used on fresh food is a bit confusing but something to be aware of.

Most people know it as an asthma medicine, usually a spray, that relieves bronchial cramps/asthma attacks.

Apparently it has been used by pig farmers to enhance the red colour of the meat and reduce the amount of fat.

''Consuming pork adulterated with salbutamol over a long period have resulted in many symptoms including muscle cramps or tremors, excitement, headache, nausea, nervousness, vomiting, general body discomfort, increased appetite, increased blood pressure and over activity''.

Basically similar symptoms to overdosing on salbutamol as a medicine

''To avoid buying pork that is adulterated with salbutamol, consumers should look for pork with fat because pigs that have been given salbutamol usually have either low amounts of fat or none at all. If the color of pork is a bright red, consumers can assume that salbutamol is presented''.

Source: http://ssde.nida.ac.th/ojs/index.php/jem/article/download/106/91

Oh God, what a nasty thing to do for the sake of profits. Best precaution would be to wash the vegetables and meat thoroughly as advised, if purchased at the fresh markets, as the sniffing test may not be conclusive if there are smaller amounts used.

Best thing is to eat in Singapore

i do that once in a while taking a flight in the morning, back in the evening. breakfast at home, lunch and early dinner in Singpore. but doing it every day would be a wee bit expensive.

Oh God, what a nasty thing to do for the sake of profits. Best precaution would be to wash the vegetables and meat thoroughly as advised, if purchased at the fresh markets, as the sniffing test may not be conclusive if there are smaller amounts used.

I've been using vinegar to wash my fruit and veg for a little while now.

Buy a big bottle of clear Thai vinegar (very inexpensive) and mix 2 parts water with 1 part vinegar (although I find that sometimes I have to use more vinegar). Wash thoroughly, preferably after soaking in the vinegar solution for at least half an hour and then rinse with water. The vinegar will wash off very easily with water and won't affect the smell or taste of the food. It's very effective in getting the waxy film off apples, for example, which while the wax itself isn't supposed to be harmful it does make very rather difficult to remove the pesticides sprayed on the apples.

how long has this really been going on?

Thais have been hearing rumours about this for years, but it seems that the health ministry has only just completed studies / checks.

Anyone have a link to this in the Thai news...would love the missus to read it.

Mind you, might explain some of the old corpses still wandering about Pattaya and such.

็Here you go : http://news.mthai.com/general-news/160250.html

At the right dose will it keep me from ageing anymore ?

This is particularly worrying as we are soon expecting an addition to the family.

 

how long has this really been going on?

 

I heard rumours about formaldehyde in fruit and vegetables not long after I first came to Thailand 17 years ago.

This is the first time I actually read about the authorities doing something about it. Well, they go to the markets of one town and take a few hundred samples....

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The mention of salbutamol as a hazardous substance used on fresh food is a bit confusing but something to be aware of.

Most people know it as an asthma medicine, usually a spray, that relieves bronchial cramps/asthma attacks.

Apparently it has been used by pig farmers to enhance the red colour of the meat and reduce the amount of fat.

''Consuming pork adulterated with salbutamol over a long period have resulted in many symptoms including muscle cramps or tremors, excitement, headache, nausea, nervousness, vomiting, general body discomfort, increased appetite, increased blood pressure and over activity''.

Basically similar symptoms to overdosing on salbutamol as a medicine

''To avoid buying pork that is adulterated with salbutamol, consumers should look for pork with fat because pigs that have been given salbutamol usually have either low amounts of fat or none at all. If the color of pork is a bright red, consumers can assume that salbutamol is presented''.

Source: http://ssde.nida.ac.th/ojs/index.php/jem/article/download/106/91

And they mentioned salicylic acid......that's aspirin, isn't it? Might counteract the headaches produced by the other substances

Okay, so this scares me more than the grilled pork smoke in another article.

"...the corpse preserving substance..." Enough said. Yuck.

Phewwww! What a relief!

The way the news is going, I thought there was going to be Cholera bacteria put there by the silly red shirts!

Always some idiot blaming the world's woes upon the red shirts..... another one of the blind led by the blind.

Most politicians are corrupt....but Suthep is evil......

lets just hope that the b******d vendors that poison the food die first som nam na

Good chance of this happening. This stuff is a lot more carcinogenic to inhale than it is to consume. As it's soluble, washing produce will help, but you're better off avoiding it altogether.

It seems that there exists no standard on many things in Thailand.

When you go to most of the hospitals, clinics, dentists, etc. the employees are eating everywhere.

When you look at kitchens at most restaurants, kitchens are extremely filthy.

I never want to eat at restaurant where I can't see the kitchen.

Street foods look safer.

Most people in Thailand are not well educated and don't know about the standard.

I would say that most of the third world countries are the same.