WUC NEWS: Formaldehyde

<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 in 4 sampled fish contaminated</span><span class="post-byline" style="border: 0px; color: #222222; display: block; line-height: 9.333333015441895px; margin: 4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BY <a href="http://www.foodsafetynews.com/author/jandrews/" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.35s ease-in-out; border: 0px; color: #023462; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.35s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;" title="More posts by James Andrews">JAMES ANDREWS</a> </span></span><span class="post-byline" style="border: 0px; color: #222222; display: block; line-height: 9.333333015441895px; margin: 4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; text-transform: none;">A large number of fish imported from China and Vietnam and sold in at least some U.S. supermarkets contain unnatural levels of formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, according to tests performed and verified by researchers at a North Carolina chemical engineering firm and North Carolina State University.</span></span><span class="post-byline" style="border: 0px; color: #222222; display: block; line-height: 9.333333015441895px; margin: 4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img height="394" src="http://www.foodsafetynews.com/files/2013/09/fish-market-406.jpg" width="640" /></span></span><span class="post-byline" style="border: 0px; color: #222222; display: block; line-height: 9.333333015441895px; margin: 4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<div style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Around 25 percent of all the fish purchased from supermarkets by researchers in the Raleigh, N.C., area were found to contain formaldehyde, a toxic chemical compound commonly used as a medical disinfectant or embalming agent. All of the fish found to contain the compound were imported from Asian countries, and it was not found in fish from the U.S. or other regions.</span></div>

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<div style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The researchers only collected samples from supermarkets around Raleigh, N.C., and could not comment on whether or not the same results could be applied to fish sold nationwide.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Formaldehyde is illegal in food beyond any naturally occurring trace amounts. But, according to chemical engineer A. James Attar and his colleagues who conducted the tests, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not test any imported fish for formaldehyde contamination, and only 4 percent of imported fish gets tested for any contaminants at all.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The look on my face when we found this – it was a complete shocker,” said Jason Morton, Attar’s colleague at N.C.-based Appealing Products, Inc.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Attar, Morton and another colleague at Appealing Products, Matthew Schwartz, came across the alarming revelation when they set out to validate a new formaldehyde test they developed for Bangladeshi clients who needed a cheap way to detect contaminated fish.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To verify the accuracy of their test, the team purchased domestic and imported fish from supermarkets around Raleigh, NC, with the intent of purposefully contaminating them with formaldehyde and then verifying that their test worked.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instead, they found that about one in four fish was already contaminated with formaldehyde. The commonality between all the contaminated fish? They were imported from Asian countries, predominantly China and Vietnam.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not all of the Asian fish were contaminated, but many were, Attar said.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The FDA has not had the opportunity to analyze the fish samples tested by Appealing Products, nor has the agency had the opportunity to review the test methods utilized.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The FDA’s priority is to ensure that both domestic and imported seafood is safe and that we are protecting consumers from products that can cause illness,” the agency told <strong style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Food Safety News</strong>. “To accomplish this, FDA oversees a comprehensive food safety program designed to ensure the safety of all seafood sold in the United States. This prevention-oriented program includes risk based inspections, product testing, and assessments of foreign countries regulation of aquaculture facilities.”</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All foods imports entering the U.S. are <a href="http://www.fda.gov/ForIndustry/ImportProgram/ucm172743.htm" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.35s ease-in-out; border: 0px; color: #336699; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.35s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">screened</a> electronically by the FDA. A subset of those foods are physically inspected at rates based on the potential risk associated with them, with some samples undergoing lab analysis.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“FDA encourages anyone who has evidence that an FDA regulated product violates food safety laws and regulations to <a href="http://www.fda.gov/Safety/ReportaProblem/ConsumerComplaintCoordinators/default.htm" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.35s ease-in-out; border: 0px; color: #336699; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.35s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">contact FDA</a>,” the agency added.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Attar and Morton stopped short of accusing Asian fish companies of intentionally adding formaldehyde to fish to prevent spoilage, though it appears to be a common problem in Bangladesh, where formaldehyde might preserve fish when refrigerators or ice aren’t available. (Think of frogs preserved for dissection in a high-school science lab.)</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Attar and his team first uncovered the issue in February 2013, and then spent six months routinely testing samples, finding the same results. Their results were then verified by researchers at North Carolina State.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Attar said the sampling was restricted to purchases from Raleigh only and might not reflect fish in supermarkets nationwide.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“But, empirically, this is what we found,” he added.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Formaldehyde is present in some fish at small, naturally occurring levels. But everything observed in the Asian fish found that they were contaminated with far higher-than-normal or acceptable levels, Attar said.</span></div>

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<div style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The team tested whether or not levels of formaldehyde increased in cuts of fish as they aged, but the levels remained the same. They also tested the same species harvested from both Chinese and U.S. companies, finding that the Chinese-caught fish contained formaldehyde, while the U.S.-caught fish of the same species did not.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to <a href="http://www.fishwatch.gov/farmed_seafood/outside_the_us.htm" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.35s ease-in-out; border: 0px; color: #336699; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.35s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association</a>, the U.S. imports approximately 91 percent of its seafood. China alone accounts for approximately 89 percent of global aquaculture production.</span></div><span class="post-byline" style="border: 0px; color: #222222; display: block; line-height: 9.333333015441895px; margin: 4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<div style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Appealing Products’ formaldehyde test costs approximately $1 per swab, which is applied to a cut of fish and turns purple in the presence of formaldehyde. The company has shipped 100,000 tests to Bangladesh and anticipates orders from companies in other Asian countries. More information on the tests can be found at<a href="http://formaldehydetests.com/" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.35s ease-in-out; border: 0px; color: #336699; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.35s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">formaldehydetests.com</a>.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 12.666666984558105px;">Documented instances of intentional formaldehyde contamination of food have occurred in China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand.</span></div><div style="border: 0px; color: #222222; line-height: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 12.666666984558105px;">Source: </span><a href="http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/09/formaldehyde-detected-in-supermarket-fish-imported-from-asia/#.UjbWINIy0rU">http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/09/formaldehyde-detected-in-supermarket-fish-imported-from-asia/#.UjbWINIy0rU</a></span></div><br />
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Formaldehyde Detected in Supermarket Fish Imported from Asia

1 in 4 sampled fish contaminated BY JAMES ANDREWS A large number of fish imported from China and Vietnam and sold in at least some U.S. s...

WUC NEWS

Formaldehyde Detected in Supermarket Fish Imported from Asia

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