A Comparative Study of Present Status of Marketing of Formalin Treated Fishes in Six Districts of Bangladesh

Abstract

The fish is an important food stuff and source of protein all over the world. In Bangladesh, fisheries sector contributes a lot, in the case of the earning foreign currency and meeting domestic need of the animal proteins. To fulfill the domestic need of protein and fish, Bangladesh imports fish and fish products from the neighboring county. In many studies, it was proved that most of the imported fishes are contaminated with formalin, which is the highly hazardous and carcinogenic chemical. Information was collected from the fish retailers and consumers on the marketing of the formalin treated fishes through survey using prescribed questionnaire at 18 different fish markets in 6 different districts of Bangladesh. It was found that most of the commercially imported fishes are highly contaminated with formalin. On the other hand, local big fishes, such as rui (Lobeo Rohita), catla (Catla catla) and mrigal (Cirrhinus cirrhosus) etc., are also formalin contaminated partially, but not all the fishes. All the local small fishes are free from the formalin contamination. In this study, it was found that, among the 939 fish samples collected from the different fish markets of the six districts, 213 fishes (22.68%) were directly contaminated with formalin. The contamination rate is so much higher in the big city like Dhaka (36.78%) and lower in the small town like Jamalpur districts (13.33%). This study also indicated that, all the village markets were totally free from the formalin contamination. As the fish traders used formalin to increase the shelf life of the fishes, it was also observed that, the shelf life of the local fishes or formalin free fishes was much higher and the organoleptic characteristics were much more excellent than the formalin contaminated local or imported fishes. The price of the imported fishes was also lower than the local fishes. It was also clear that, the organoleptic characteristics of the imported fishes and formalin contaminated fishes were greatly different than the local fishes, which were not satisfactory to the consumers. The study also indicated that, the overall hygienic practice and sanitary condi-* Corresponding author. tions of the markets and the fish traders/retailers were very poor, not satisfactory. This survey also revealed that, all the traders or retailers who were mixed formalin with the fishes, knew about the bad effects of the formalin.

Evaluation of artificially contaminated fish with formaldehyde under laboratory conditions and exposure assessment in freshwater fish in Southern Bangladesh

“…Qualitative tests and detection kits have been used previously in Bangladesh to determine formaldehyde in freshwater and marine water fish i.e. by Islam et al (2015) for Indian major carp (rui and catla) fish in Dhaka region;…”

A systematic review of fish adulteration and contamination in Bangladesh: A way forward to food safety

“…However, this does not represent the whole picture, as the study only investigated Jashore. In contrast, the findings of Islam et al 45 seem to be more comprehensive, as they covered about six districts in their study.…”

“…Islam et al 45 Formalin detection kit 939 samples including Mrigal, Rui, Kal Baous, Catla, Silver carp, Boal, Elish (Tenualosa ilisha), Tilapia, Aaeer, Baeen, Chitol, Foli, Koi, Sorpunti Greater adulteration in imported fish than local fish. Big species were more adulterated compared to small fish.…”

“…Some studies have also provided evidence of formalin adulteration in local fish. Islam et al, 45 in their investigation of myriad markets covering Dhaka, Tangail, Mymensingh, Sherpur, Jamalpur and Manikganj districts, utilizing 939 samples of local and imported fish, ascertained that both local and imported fish were adulterated with formalin. Similar findings to this can be seen in the study of Sumon et al, 24 who investigated the presence of formalin in 100 samples collected from markets in the Sylhet and Molovibazar districts.…”

Freshness and Contamination with Formalin of Mackerel marketed in Dar es Salaam

“…Speci cally, sh contains omega-3 and − 6 fatty acids which are very essential to human nutrition (Hoitsy et al 2012). If not well preserved, harvested sh quickly deteriorates through microbial and biochemical processes (Ghaly et al 2010; Islam et al 2015). For long-term preservation; deep freezing, salting, smoking, and drying are the most preferred methods (Ghaly et al 2010;Hoitsy et al 2012).…”