Lok Sabha Question No. 141 (STARRED), answered on 2018-07-27
Subject: Use of Formalin in Fish and Fishery Products
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: ANTO  ANTONY, K. C. VENUGOPAL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 141 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 27 TH JULY, 2018 USE OF FORMALIN IN F ISH AND FISHERY PROD UCTS

## *141. SHRI ANTO ANTONY: SHRI K.C. VENUGOPAL:

Will  the  Minister  of  HEALTH  AND  FAMILY  WELFARE  be  pleased  to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken note of the reports from various parts country that toxic preservatives such as formalin are being used in fish and hery products in the country;
- (b)  if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  action  taken  by  the  Govern prevent  the  use  of  formalin  and  other  toxic  preservatives  in  fish  and products;
- (c) whether the use of formalin in food products can cause cancer and if so, details thereof; and
- (d) whether the Government proposes to make available low cost detectors for of public to determine traces of such harmful toxins in fish and other consu and if so, the details thereof

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE ( SHRI JAGAT PRAKASH NADDA )

- (a)to ( d) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 141* FOR 27 TH JULY, 2018

(a) & (b): -Reports of use of formalin in fish and fishery products in the count come to the notice of  Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). enforcement of FSS Act,2006, rules , regulations made thereunder primarily rests with States/UTs. The Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006 does not per the use of formaldehyde or formalin in any form, including as preservative additive,  in  any  food  products.  Generally,  formaldehyde  is  naturally present  in marine  fishes  (like  mackerel,  Bombay  duck  etc.)  and  shellfishes  (shrimps brackish  water  prawns)  and  it  is  very  minimal  (<4  mg  per  kg)  or  absen freshwater fish. Any freshwater fish testing positive, either through the rap throu gh  laboratory  analysis , indicates  added  formalin.  However,  occurrence  of formalin  in  freshwater  fish  amounts  to  illegal  use  of  prohibited  substan affects the safety of consumer and, is liable to be prosecuted.

FSSAI,  in  consultation  with  Central  I nstitute  of  Fisheries  Technology (CIFT), Kochi ,has prepared a guidance document and issued it to all the State has also been placed on FSSAI's website for the benefit of general public as well. To  ensure  the  availability  of  safe  and  wholesome  food,  r egularsurveillance, monitoring, inspection and random sampling of food products, are undertaken the officials of Food Safety Departments of the respective States/ UTs to che they comply with the standards laid down under the FSS Act and rules, r egulations made thereunder. In cases where the food samples are found to be non - conforming, recourse  is  taken  to  penal  provisions under  Chapter  IX  of  the  FSS  Act, 2006. As per the report received from the States/UTs so far, the number of sampl of fish lifted and found non - conforming is as under :

|   No. of fish market inspected |   No. of fish samples lifted |   No. of sampled found conforming | No. of samples found non - conforming   |
|--------------------------------|------------------------------|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
|                            386 |                          608 |                               533 | 75*                                     |

* indicates non - conforming samples. Out of 75 non - conforming samples -58 reported from Nagaland, 1 from Assam, 12 from Meghalaya, 3 from Kerala and 1 from Punjab

(c). The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of WHO classifies formaldehyde as "carcinogenic to humans", with sufficient evidence for cau nasopharyngeal cancer in humans with occupational exposure. However, WHO has indicated that formaldehyde was not carcinogenic through ingestion route. are, however, other side effects. While ingestion  of a  small amount  of formaldehyde is unlikely to cause acute effect, but ingestion of a large am formaldehyde can generally cause severe abdominal pain, vomiting, coma, re injury and possible death.

(d). Central Inst itute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), on the advice of FSSAI, h developed  a  rapid  detection  kit  'CIFTest  Kit'  that  can  be  used  to  determine  the presence of formalin on fish. The rapid kit is paper strip based which qual determines the presence o f formaldehyde within 2 minutes. The paper strip has t be  swabbed  over  the  surface  of  fish  3 - 4  times  in  different  areas  followed  by addition of one drop of reagent. Colour developed within 1 - 2 m nutes is compared with standard chart provided. CIFT has pro vided these testing kits to 28 agencies including FSSAI.

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