The menace of toxic preservatives, particularly formalin, in fresh fruits, vegetables, fishes that are sold in the capital kitchen markets remains almost unchanged as the traders resort to innovative ways to dodge the anti-formalin monitoring drives launched jointly by the government and business leaders. Newer techniques like mixing formalin with the ice used for fish freezing are widely being adopted by the traders to dodge the anti-formalin drives, while many traders as well as customers of perishable items in the city markets are showing less interest in using the formalin detection kits, claimed some traders and customers. Talking to UNB, general secretary of Baridhara Notunbazar Kitchen Market Shop Owners’ Association, Habibur Rahman, said, “The level of formalin use still remains the same. There are newer ways to dodge us. Fish sellers nowadays mix formalin with ice, instead of the fish.” “The formalin kit provided to the market also remains unused. Both the traders and customers are not interested to spend some time on the scrutiny,” he added. Traders, retail shop owners and customers at Gulshan-2 Kitchen Market also admitted that they are aware of the new techniques, but are not habituated with the testing with the formalin detection kit. On the other hand, the ban imposed by the government on formalin import through a circular in March last year is also not proving to be effective in curbing the import as some cartels are managing to import excessive amount of formalin with false import declaration. Vice president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) Helal Uddin said about 40 tonnes formalin import was recorded in 2013 despite the restriction on formalin import, an allegation denied by officials at the Commerce Ministry.

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