Thai Health Ministry warns of increasing use of formalin by vendors at fresh markets

[bamboozled]

I would still like to be able to test at home...probably a difficult thing to do. However, how accurate is the article? There could be some sensationalizing going on to drum up readers. Are the results exaggerated? How reliable was the testing? How many samples were tested? It is fairly vague on specifics. And these substances are bad for you but how much is one actually ingesting if washing a little and cooking using various methods.

I only mention this because one has to be very discerning about what one reads. Just because it's in a "newspaper"...

[lifeincnx]

Unfortunately, this article failed to mention what the penalty imposed on vendors and/or their wholesale suppliers would be: 20,000 baht OR 2 years in jail. What a choice. Low cost penalties are part of the problem - how about 200,000 baht at the very least?

[Lupatria]

Unfortunately, this article failed to mention what the penalty imposed on vendors and/or their wholesale suppliers would be: 20,000 baht OR 2 years in jail. What a choice. Low cost penalties are part of the problem - how about 200,000 baht at the very least?

Great idea! That would increase the tea money involved. Finally a positive side effect of formalin.

[ginjag]

I would still like to be able to test at home...probably a difficult thing to do. However, how accurate is the article? There could be some sensationalizing going on to drum up readers. Are the results exaggerated? How reliable was the testing? How many samples were tested? It is fairly vague on specifics. And these substances are bad for you but how much is one actually ingesting if washing a little and cooking using various methods.

I only mention this because one has to be very discerning about what one reads. Just because it's in a "newspaper"...

If you feel unsure, or how to neutralize toxins--then buy imports of tinned peas , green beans, carrots, potatoes, fruits. some are reasonably priced and a bonus you can stockpile.

You do not have to shop everyday, Do not buy river fish especially in dry season when river levels are low-higher toxins.

the money you save on petrol shopping everyday, will pay for the extra canned produce.

I would not trust most organic signs here. Sorry guys prevention better than cure.

[Yunla]

I would still like to be able to test at home...probably a difficult thing to do. However, how accurate is the article? There could be some sensationalizing going on to drum up readers. Are the results exaggerated? How reliable was the testing? How many samples were tested? It is fairly vague on specifics. And these substances are bad for you but how much is one actually ingesting if washing a little and cooking using various methods.

I only mention this because one has to be very discerning about what one reads. Just because it's in a "newspaper"...

Re; the dangers. We are still learning about the hazards of modern chemicals in our food, water and air, because in many cases the newer chemicals we are the first, second and third generation to have ingested these chemicals.

Experts stress that high levels of pesticides and other chemicals are very dangerous to infants and young children, less dangerous for adults. Global cancer rates are skyrocketing exponentially, and in the case of environmental toxins such as pesticides and water-treatment chemicals, it is hard to separate their risks from lifestyle factors such as smoking drinking etc. and the bigger problem is that many of the chemicals are new which means the people ingesting them are the first generation to do so, and so there can not possibly be long-term studies into health effects.

I have bad MS and so I have to take an interest in man-made environmental toxins which can cause poisoning and seizures etc. and the reading I've done on this is very alarming to me, although I've reached the happy point now when I'm ready to shuffle off this mortal coil anyway so I just eat and drink what I want.

But it saddens me that these food-toxicity issues are considered by the mainstream to be of marginal importance, for the reason that young healthy kids are ingesting them and experts say this is dangerous for child developmental reasons. I see this whole problem as a child-safety issue, based on what the experts are saying about toxicity effects in infants and young kids.

Edited February 25, 2014 by Yunla

[Prbkk]

printing a sign saying " organic" takes 30 seconds and some people will pay 3 times the price of goods upon seeing that sign. Without regulation it's meaningless. Of course Dr Narong doesn't seem to have done anything about the issue of food safety . His mind must be elsewhere

[Asiantravel]

It is pointless to worry about it really , because I think the battle to keep safe and clean food sources has been well and truly lost.

Even a couple of years ago it was reported in a study at least 200 million people around the world risk their health daily by eating food grown using untreated waste water, some of which may be contaminated with heavy metals and raw sewage, according to major study of 53 world cities.

And even in 2010 in this Thai visa forum there was a thread entitled Canal Chemical Pollution Levels Alarming: Greenpeace Thailand

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/383147-canal-chemical-pollution-levels-alarming-greenpeace-thailand/

Edited February 25, 2014 by Asiantravel

[Asiantravel]

I would still like to be able to test at home...probably a difficult thing to do. However, how accurate is the article? There could be some sensationalizing going on to drum up readers. Are the results exaggerated? How reliable was the testing? How many samples were tested? It is fairly vague on specifics. And these substances are bad for you but how much is one actually ingesting if washing a little and cooking using various methods.

I only mention this because one has to be very discerning about what one reads. Just because it's in a "newspaper"...

Re; the dangers. We are still learning about the hazards of modern chemicals in our food, water and air, because in many cases the newer chemicals we are the first, second and third generation to have ingested these chemicals.

Experts stress that high levels of pesticides and other chemicals are very dangerous to infants and young children, less dangerous for adults. Global cancer rates are skyrocketing exponentially, and in the case of environmental toxins such as pesticides and water-treatment chemicals, it is hard to separate their risks from lifestyle factors such as smoking drinking etc. and the bigger problem is that many of the chemicals are new which means the people ingesting them are the first generation to do so, and so there can not possibly be long-term studies into health effects.

I have bad MS and so I have to take an interest in man-made environmental toxins which can cause poisoning and seizures etc. and the reading I've done on this is very alarming to me, although I've reached the happy point now when I'm ready to shuffle off this mortal coil anyway so I just eat and drink what I want.

But it saddens me that these food-toxicity issues are considered by the mainstream to be of marginal importance, for the reason that young healthy kids are ingesting them and experts say this is dangerous for child developmental reasons. I see this whole problem as a child-safety issue, based on what the experts are saying about toxicity effects in infants and young kids.

Yunla the world hasn't even seen the worst yet primarily because there is so little awareness of this due to deliberate media suppression

Radiation Has Contaminated U.S. Food Supplies

Air, water and milk samples collected across the United States after the Fukushima disaster all showed high levels of radioactive iodine, cesium, and tellurium. [12]

When this stuff hits the globe it spreads like glitter thrown into a fan. There is no safe haven!

http://wakeup-world.com/2014/02/21/8-must-know-facts-about-fukushima-nuclear-radiation/

Edited February 25, 2014 by Asiantravel

[Riley'sLife]

I've been buying organic vegetables at Rimping market and wondering if it is worth the extra cost. Now I know it is.

Well, maybe.

I don't know about Rimping market, but several “organic” produce suppliers are actually selling fake-organic produce in order to rake in extra profit.

For example, I have seen produce on sale that had the appearance of having been eaten by bugs – proof of organic growth, proudly stated by the vendor. However, the holes had been made by sprinkling very hot sand over the produce.

Growing your own is perhaps the only way of being sure in Thailand

[ginjag]

It is pointless to worry about it really , because I think the battle to keep safe and clean food sources has been well and truly lost.

Even a couple of years ago it was reported in a study at least 200 million people around the world risk their health daily by eating food grown using untreated waste water, some of which may be contaminated with heavy metals and raw sewage, according to major study of 53 world cities.

And even in 2010 in this Thai visa forum there was a thread entitled Canal Chemical Pollution Levels Alarming: Greenpeace Thailand

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/383147-canal-chemical-pollution-levels-alarming-greenpeace-thailand/

Get water taxi spray on your face the smell and taste gives it away also, where does the toilet waste go from all the houses on the canals--to a treatment plant ??? Ha Ha.

Farmers using deadly toxins on crops-run offs into local small rivers, anchovies and small fish sold at local markets, low water more concentrated chemicals.

At local markets vegies are washed out with tap water, I know it's custom but at home all family and friends are eating from communal bowls with SUCKED fingers.

Seriously how many have washed their hands prior. I am not a prude or anti social but this eating is a no go for me, unless I can spoon at the start and get my food before the fingers get in.

[Gandtee]

My wife tried to buy borax to treat my dog for mange and could not find any. She was told by a vendor that it is against the law to have borax. There must be a good black market for it???

[Gandtee]

Maybe this is why there is an increase in cancer deaths here in Thailand?

[Yunla]

Yunla the world hasn't even seen the worst yet primarily because there is so little awareness of this due to deliberate media suppression

Radiation Has Contaminated U.S. Food Supplies

Air, water and milk samples collected across the United States after the Fukushima disaster all showed high levels of radioactive iodine, cesium, and tellurium. [12]

When this stuff hits the globe it spreads like glitter thrown into a fan. There is no safe haven!

http://wakeup-world.com/2014/02/21/8-must-know-facts-about-fukushima-nuclear-radiation/

Yes I was reading about the hot particles arriving in the US from Fukushima. The Japanese government has been exposed numerous times covering up the true horror of Fukushima, and the big media there reports 'no increase in cancer rates' which of course the corporate-controlled UN has been happy to hold up those media reports and say the situation is safe. But deeper reading shows that local newspapers are reporting high increase of hospital admissions of sick children, this stuff never reaches the national news level.

Selling pesticides and other chemical junk, and of course the nuclear industry, is such huge business that the vested interests don't want people to know anything that would affect profits. See also smoking, which is a personal liberty and I have no issues against it, but the industry has denied the health risks for almost a century. This is the problem with global corporatocracy, when you get corporations with their collective arm up the various ruling sock-puppets, you will only get information and decisions that benefit profit instead of health or common decency.

[luk AJ]

Under "hazardous substances" the article also included "salicylic acid"which as far as I know is the same molecule as Aspirin.

[Malthus101]

I must say, I am certainly looking forward to returning home and being able to eat "reasonably" clean food again....

Really cannot trust anything out here. It's not just that some fish may have been sitting in the sun for 4 hours before being consumed, but now it may have been sprayed with freakin' formaldehyde at the market before reaching the place where it sat in the sun for 4 hours!

Nasty.

[Lobo4819]

I've been buying organic vegetables at Rimping market and wondering if it is worth the extra cost. Now I know it is.

If the labels are correct. I also like Rimping's use of a label stating, "Pesticide Residue Safe". Now what does that mean, and how do we know? There are certainly no oversight agencies.

[DGIE]

Is formalin cheap so that it justifies using in vegetables?

For example, a small bundle of morning glory/chinese cabbage is just around 10-20 Baht. Do the vendors need to buy formalin just to preserve the freshness of those vegetables?

Sometimes, we need not to believe every news we read. In this world, there are true and false.

[laislica]

Yunla the world hasn't even seen the worst yet primarily because there is so little awareness of this due to deliberate media suppression

Radiation Has Contaminated U.S. Food Supplies

Air, water and milk samples collected across the United States after the Fukushima disaster all showed high levels of radioactive iodine, cesium, and tellurium. [12]

When this stuff hits the globe it spreads like glitter thrown into a fan. There is no safe haven!

http://wakeup-world.com/2014/02/21/8-must-know-facts-about-fukushima-nuclear-radiation/

Yes I was reading about the hot particles arriving in the US from Fukushima. The Japanese government has been exposed numerous times covering up the true horror of Fukushima, and the big media there reports 'no increase in cancer rates' which of course the corporate-controlled UN has been happy to hold up those media reports and say the situation is safe. But deeper reading shows that local newspapers are reporting high increase of hospital admissions of sick children, this stuff never reaches the national news level.

Selling pesticides and other chemical junk, and of course the nuclear industry, is such huge business that the vested interests don't want people to know anything that would affect profits. See also smoking, which is a personal liberty and I have no issues against it, but the industry has denied the health risks for almost a century. This is the problem with global corporatocracy, when you get corporations with their collective arm up the various ruling sock-puppets, you will only get information and decisions that benefit profit instead of health or common decency.

Most people are aware of the lies that the tobacco industry told and denials for profit.

Most may not be aware that they were following a path well trodden by the sugar industry.

Sugar, and particularly fructose, is an addictive poison, feeds cancer and causes massive weight gain.

When I recall how Thai people looked when I first visited in the 60's and compare that to now.

They were fit, beautiful, thin people.

Now that are generally fat, unfit, though still beautiful.

My wife tells me that when she was a child, people lived to a good ripe old age.

I get the feeling that folk are departing sooner and sooner.

The reasons are purely Profit.

It does not stop at food, our culture has been "adjusted" to include more ways to make profit.

Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Valentines Day, Engagement rings....

In the 20's and 30's, no one had ever heard of an engagement ring. De-Beers had a massive advertising campaign that crammed engagement rings into modern culture, they initially suggested that if you spent a months wages on the ring she would love you forever. That price has been steadily increasing ever since.

We are brainwashed into buying more junk that we don't need, just so the companies can make massive profits.

Like Yunia, I am also old and it doesn't worry me so much any more, but I fear for our grandchildren.

What kind of world will we be leaving them?

[rickirs]

Shouldn't there be some kind of licensing to sell and purchase cancer causing substances like sodium hydrosulfite and formalin so that there can be no abuse of their use? Typically, licensing requires accountability for sales and who the end users are, ie., commercial processors and manufacturers. Market food vendors shouldn't be using these substances but if they're readily available from suppliers, effective public monitoring and control becomes impossible. Focus should be on the suppliers for more effective control than going after countless food vendors. Remove access of these dangerous substances from vendors and you remove them from public consumption.

[NeilSA1]

".... the penalty imposed on vendors and/or their wholesale suppliers would be: 20,000 baht OR 2 years in jail..."

If the above is true, and then ENFORCED, it would probably be a deterrent.

[Gil]

I've been buying organic vegetables at Rimping market and wondering if it is worth the extra cost. Now I know it is.

Just pushing the paranoïa a bit further:

How do you know the labeled organic veggies at Rimping are actually organic?

Greed may be even more tempting at this "level of purity".

[puipuitom]

And still they call: "Thailand, the kitchen of the world" ( despite on world level, Thailand does not be much at all, even only a very limited quantity of dishes)

They forget to mention: and we added so many unallowed additives, many shipments of fresh foods, like fruits, vegetables, fish and seafood) are every year blocked at the EU borders, see the RASFF database of the combined EU food authorities since 1979: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/rasff-window/portal/index.cfm?event=SearchForm

From 1 Jan 2011 till 31 Dec 2013:

Notified from 01/01/2011 | Notified till 31/12/2013 | Product type food | Origin country

Thailand (TH) | Products: All | hazards: all | 270 results

[Gil]

I would still like to be able to test at home...probably a difficult thing to do. However, how accurate is the article? There could be some sensationalizing going on to drum up readers. Are the results exaggerated? How reliable was the testing? How many samples were tested? It is fairly vague on specifics. And these substances are bad for you but how much is one actually ingesting if washing a little and cooking using various methods.

I only mention this because one has to be very discerning about what one reads. Just because it's in a "newspaper"...

Well, living in Chiang Mai, I can testify that poisoning people is a secondary concern when it comes to have food to put on the market for a living. For the extensive greed of supermarkets or just for a pittance earned on the street, your lungs are packed with heavy smoke (rice farmers) and your stomach is filled with chemicals (food vendors).

[thailandbeachisland]

Oh they found another way to kill us faster !

[Jonmarleesco]

Little point in suggesting vendors who are found to be using formalin be arrested and charged. But then, it was rumoured at one time that Singha contained formalin, or formaldehyde, and some of its fans look remarkably well preserved.

[PJcm]

I've been buying organic vegetables at Rimping market and wondering if it is worth the extra cost. Now I know it is.

Under what reasoning could you believe in a label in this country? Who certifies them, who regulates them give me a break.. Advertised organic and you believe it?

[HerbalEd]

This has been going on for years ..... Grow your own I say ....

Is that what you do?

[crazydrummerpauly]

I've been buying organic vegetables at Rimping market and wondering if it is worth the extra cost. Now I know it is.

'Organic vegetables'...and you believe it...in LoS ? I wouldn't.

[jagriffin2]

I heard they threw the bomb at the vendor in the mob yesterday because they were selling bad vegies.

[lee b]

Chop put in a frying pan, add some MSG (phom crew rot) and all is good. Nothing is good for you here.