Making a pretty kettle of fish

 Source: http://www.thehindu.com

Seafood from other States being tested for harmful preservatives

You would never have thought that the fish you eat can be chemically contaminated, as you believe that they come fresh from Kerala’s own waters.

You are wrong on both counts: about a third of the fish available on the Kerala market comes from other South Indian States and as evidence shows, a substantial share of these fish are chemically contaminated by traders to increase their shelf life.

Following detection of heavy doses of chemicals and heavy metals in fish samples in laboratory tests at the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), Kochi, Food Safety Commissioner Biju Prabahakar has asked his staff to collect samples from fish markets in all districts and send them for chemical analysis at the institute and at the Central Food Technological Research Institute, Konni.

“Chemical contamination in fish is a serious issue,” Mr. Prabahakar told The Hindu . “Eating contaminated fish can cause serious health damage.”

He noted that preliminary investigations showed that most of the contaminated fish came from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Goa. Before sending fish cargoes to Kerala, the traders applied high doses of harmful chemical preservatives on them to prolong the shelf life.

“The lab tests at CIFT showed that the samples contained formalin and ammonium sulphate,” Mr. Prabhakar said. (Formalin is generally used for preservation of biological specimens).

“We learnt that in many cases, fish is put in containers that hold a solution of ammonium sulphate and ice.”

Some samples even had traces of mercury. Mr. Prabahakar said he had written to the food safety commissioners in the southern States to check the fish sent to Kerala. “If we find that fish from outside Kerala continue to contain harmful chemicals, we will consider banning such imports,” he said. “Initially, we will have checks at border check-posts, and steps will be in place soon for such checks.”

Mr. Prabhakar has advised people to be careful while buying, dressing and cooking fish.

Fish should be cleaned and washed as much as possible and if possible, kept in saline water for some time before dressing. Fish that look neat, tidy and dry on the shelf of the fish stall may have had a chemical bath.

“Fish is good for the heart, but contaminated fish can damage your vital organs,” Mr. Prahakar warned.