Hazards in Food Ingredients Formalin

Mie without content Formalin can only survive 12 hours, while the noodles with Formalin can last up to three days without a change in texture.

According to several manufacturers, the use of borax in the manufacture of noodles will produce a more chewy texture. Meanwhile, the use of formalin will produce a more durable noodles, which can be stored up to 4 days.

What is Formaldehyde?

Formalin is a trade name with a solution of formaldehyde in water content of 30-40 percent. In the market, can be obtained in the form of formalin was diluted, with levels formaldehidnya 40, 30, 20 and 10 per cent and in the form of tablets each weighing about 5 grams.

Formalin is a solution that is colorless and the smell was terrible. In the formalin contained about 37% formaldehyde in water. Usually up to 15% methanol added as a preservative.

Formalin is usually traded in the market with different names, among others: formol, Morbicid, Methanal, formic aldehyde, methyl oxide, Oxymethylene, methylene aldehyde, Oxomethane, Formoform, Formalith, Karsan, methylene glycol, Paraforin, Polyoxymethylene glycols, Superlysoform, Tetraoxymethylene, Trioxane.

Use of Formalin

Killer germs that used for cleaning: floors, boats, warehouses, and clothing.

Buster flies and various other insects.

Materials in the manufacture of artificial silk, dyes, glass mirror, and explosives.

In the world of photography is usually used for amplifying layer of gelatin and paper.

Material in the form of urea fertilizer.

Materials for the manufacture of perfume products.

Preservative cosmetics products and nail hardener.

Prevention of corrosion to oil wells.

Materials for foam insulation.

Adhesives for plywood products (plywood).

Pembalsam fluids (preservative corpse).

In a very small concentration (<1%) was used as a preservative for a variety of consumer goods such as household cleaners, liquid dish pemcuci, softener, nurse shoes, car shampoo, wax and carpet cleaning.

The use of formalin is wrong is very regrettable. Through a number of surveys and laboratory examination, found a number of food products that use formaldehyde as a preservative.

Practices such as this one do food producers or managers who are not responsible. Some examples of products that often contain formaldehyde such as fresh fish, chicken pieces, wet noodle and tofu on the market. To remember, not all food products containing formaldehyde.

Legal Basis

The legal basis for prohibiting the use of formalin in which Law No. 7 / 1996 on Food and the Law No. 8 / 1999 on Consumer Protection.

Formalin and metahnyl yellow is food additives (BTP), which prohibited its use in food by regulations of the Minister of Health (Minister) Number 1168/Menkes/PER/X/1999.

Government Regulation No. 28 of 2004 on the Safety, Quality and Food Nutrition.

Why should watch out

Formalin is toxic and harmful to human health. If the obstetrician in the body height, will react chemically with almost all substances in cells so that pressing the function of cells and causes cell death that causes toxicity in the body.

In addition, a high content of formaldehyde in the body also causes stomach irritation, allergy, are carcinogenic (causing cancer) and are mutagenic (causing changes in the function of cells / tissue), as well as people who eat them will vomit, diarrhea mixed with blood, urine mixed with blood, and deaths caused by circulatory failure.

Formalin when evaporated in air, in the form of a colorless gas, with a sharp suffocating odor, thus stimulating the nose, throat, and eyes.

Formalin Impact on Human Health

Acute: effects on human health directly visible: such as irritation, allergy, redness, watery eyes, nausea, vomiting, burning sensation, abdominal pain and dizziness

Chronic: effects on human health seen after exposure in the long term and repetitive: the possible severe irritation, watery eyes, digestive disorders, liver, kidney, pancreas, central nervous system, menstruation and in animal studies to cause cancer in humans, while allegedly carcinogen (causes cancer). Consuming foods that contain formaldehyde, the side effects seen after long-term, due to the accumulation of formaldehyde in the body.

if consumed by humans, formaldehyde can cause irritation to the respiratory tract, interfere with liver function, kidney and reproductive system

According Winarno and Rahayu (1994), the use of formaldehyde in foods can cause poisoning in human body. Symptoms commonly include difficulty swallowing timbut, acute abdominal pain accompanied by vomiting, bloody diarrhea, depression onset nervous system, or circulatory disorders.

Consumption of formaldehyde at very high doses can cause convulsions (seizures), haematuri (urinating blood), and haimatomesis (vomiting blood), which ended with the death

Formalin or formaldehyde solution (formaldehyde), which is usually for preservative corpse, its use in food in high doses will cause irritation of the stomach, cause cancer, kidney failure, liver, spleen and tissue damage.

How to Detect

Detection of formaldehyde and borax can only be done accurately in the laboratory using chemicals, namely through the formalin test and the test of borax. Formalin threshold levels that can be tolerated by the body is 0.2 milligrams per kilogram of body weight.

The characteristics of food products containing formaldehyde

Know that looks very nice, chewy, not crumbly, lasting several days and not easily rot.

Wet noodle lasting several days and not perishable compared to that does not contain formalin.

White chicken clean, durable and not easily rot.

Wet fish that clean white color, chewy, dark red gills instead of fresh red, lasting up to several days and not easily rot.

Tips on choosing to know

Know that contain formalin can be marked with:

The higher content of formaldehyde, the smell of the drug sting, while knowing no berformalin will smell the distinctive odor of soy protein;

Know who has the nature of the bouncy berformalin (if pressed felt very chewy), whereas no berformalin know if pressed would be destroyed;

Berformalin know will last longer, while most only berformalin not hold one or two days.

Know who use artificial coloring can be characterized by looking at its appearance. If you know the use of artificial coloring, the color is very homogeneous / uniform and shiny appearance. Meanwhile, if using turmeric dye, the color tends to be opaque (not clear). If we cut him, it would seem the inside color is not homogeneous / uniform. In fact, there are some still white.

First aid in case of acute poisoning

Relief depends on the concentration of liquids and symptoms experienced by victims.

Prior to hospital: give activated charcoal (Norit) when available. Do not do stimulate vomiting in the victim because it would pose a risk of corrosive injury to upper gastrointestinal tract.

In the hospital: do rinse the stomach (gastric lavage), give activated charcoal (activated carbon, although the provision would interfere with vision if the action later endoscopy). To diagnose the occurrence of trauma to the esophagus and gastrointestinal endoscopy can be taken. To improve the elimination of formaldehyde from the body can be done hemodyalisis (action dialysis), dialysis is an indication of action in case of severe state of metabolic acidosis on the victim.

By: Dr. Handy, PT Clinic. Astra International Tbk