The hazardous chemical formalin is used in fish trading in Bangladesh by injecting formalin into the stomach and head of big fish with a syringe and dipping the fish into formalin solution several times before displaying.
Burma has been exporting fish to Bangladesh for years, which caters one-third of the total consumption in Bangladesh. So the laboratories from Cox's Bazaar and Mymensingh have begun operations to check the fish from Burma.
Dr. M. A. Majid of the Pharmaceutical Technology Laboratory of Mymensingh, Dr. A. K. Yusuf of the Cox's Bazaar Institute and Dr. Shadad Hussein of the Ocean Fish and Technology Institute of Cox's Bazaar have been conducting survey on fish imported from Burma for more than a year and found no formalin in the fish.
Bangladesh scientists did not found formalin in fish from Burma but some owners of the Burmese condensed milk factory might use it.
U Hla Myint is a chemist from Chicago Abbott Pharmaceutical Company. He explained about formalin and formaldehyde, its usage and danger of the use of these kind of chemicals in food.
Information for this report is provided by Kaladan News .